


EVERYTHING

by LullabyForACat12



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Bang Chan is Whipped, Changlix ? Sure !, Each chapter title is the name of a song (guess which group/artist !), Hwang Hyunjin is a Sweetheart, Jeongin's parents aren't the best, Kim Seungmin & Kim Woojin are Siblings, Kim Woojin is Whipped, M/M, Yang Jeongin | I.N-centric, only day6's songs listened during the writing process
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2020-05-31 14:59:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 46,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19428349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LullabyForACat12/pseuds/LullabyForACat12
Summary: "Jeongin was unsure, but Chan's tortured gaze convinced him that he was right. It was his parents or him. He had made his choice."Jeongin is aware that his parents are not the best in the world but beaten by them, he doesn't dare rise up and leave the hell that is his daily life. One day, two of his friends learn about what he goes through and offer him to run away with them. He accepts and discovers what is a family where deprivation and violence don't exist and what is being truly loved.





	1. Entrance

It was dark. It was always dark when Jeongin was lying in bed at night. He had never dared to tell his parents that he did not like the way the shutters of his window prevented the lunar rays from illuminating the room. He felt like he was choking and on nights when his body was too painful by his parents' kicks depriving him of sleep, it was worse.

He turned on his back slowly so as not to wake up the pain from his bruises and fixed the ceiling without seeing it. He was exhausted but every breath was hell and as soon as he felt relaxed by sleep, he ended up having a start because of a pain in his ribs.

He couldn't complain anyway, it was his fault. He had took his time on the way back because he wanted to talk to Seungmin and Hyunjin longer when he knew full well that his parents wanted him to come home at 5:20 p.m. every day after school. He had disobeyed and paid the costs.

Sighing, he stood up and put a hand under his mattress from where he took out his phone. Not the one his parents kept in the living room until the next morning but the one that his friends had offered him for his birthday two years ago when he didn't have one yet. It wasn't a branded mobile phone, it had to cost them 104 000 wons maximum but Jeongin was fully satisfied with it. He wasn't allowed to install apps or add contacts in his other phone, but in this one he had all his friends' numbers and even a group chat with them.

He turned on the phone and unlocked it. Immediately the device started vibrating and the notification bar filled with messages. His friends had been connected for half an hour. He pressed one of the messages and went back up the discussion to see what was so upto everyone.

A message from Chan had been the beginning of everything. Chan was older than all of them, he was already twenty-one years old. They had all met him when they had enrolled in a reading group in elementary school and then middle school at the library. Chan was the nephew of the library director and therefore attended the sessions when his parents could not pick him up and his aunt took him with her. Subsequently, when he entered second grade, he had taken over the leadership of the reading group and had only stopped after graduating two years ago. Despite this, he would always visit them during the sessions when he was not busy at work. Jeongin could not count the number of times he had taken him home by car to be right on time for the curfew. They all liked Chan like a big brother and often he offered them trips... Jeongin was never allowed to go.

The message was about yet another trips, by the way. One at the beach, they would stay in his aunt's holiday home for the next vacations. This idea seemed to excite everyone and Jeongin smiled at Hyunjin's first message "!!!!!!!!!". Quickly each of them said to be able to come.

The phone vibrated again and the next message was particularly addressed to him. "@Innie can you come?" asked Hyunjin, his best friend. He grimaced. He knew already that it would be not allowed to. His parents already didn't like it when he had to cross the street alone to get to the library so let him go on vacation without them in a house they didn't know five hours from here...

"I'm going to ask," he wrote. He was ashamed. The last time he told his friends that his parents had refused to let him spend a night at Seungmin's, they looked at him with such incomprehension that he found himself red with embarrassment.

He turned off the smartphone, slipped it under his mattress again and closed his eyes, grimacing when his back protested.

The next day came soon. He had only slept for three hours and felt the fatigue weigh on him when he awoke startled to the sound of his door unlocked by his mother. She passed her head through the door frame and smiled tenderly at him.

"Hello, darling. Did you get a good night's sleep?"  
"Yes, Mommy. How about you?"  
"Perfectly."

Knowing that he did not like his father waiting, he got up, gathered his clothes prepared the day before and went to prepare quickly. He trotted to the kitchen where his father and mother were settled down, each with a glass of orange juice in front of them as they read the newspaper. Jeongin grabbed the only apron in the kitchen and skilfully threaded it.

"Hello Dad."  
"Hello Jeongin."  
"What do you want for breakfast?"  
"Something consistent. Hurry up."

He nodded even though he knew full well that his father could not see him and started cooking. He broke three eggs in a bowl and added some milk. He mixed it all up until it became a homogeneous mixture. He pulled the bread out of a cupboard and heated cooking oil in a frying pan. He dipped the slices of bread one by one in the mixture and placed them on the pan. Quickly, the egg cooked on the slices and he placed four on a plate which he put in front of his father.

"Eat well," he said, but the man did not answer, beginning to eat. He then served his mother. His parents seemed satisfied with their breakfast and he smiled at the idea as he sat down with them. He broke the silence between them after a few seconds.

"Mom, Dad?" the two adults nodded as a sign of listening. "Chan and the others are going to spend the holidays at the beach, can I please go?"  
"No." answered his father.  
"But everyone goes. I'll be careful."  
"Innie, you are only sixteen years old. said his mother. You're too young to leave without us. There is not even an adult with you."  
"There's Chan."  
"No, it's no. Go to school now. You're going to be late." 

At his father's tone, he choosed to not insist. He had already make him angry last night, he didn't want to go to school with new bruises and new pains. He got up, put his empty plate in the sink and took his school bag.

He lived close to high school because his parents, who could not take him or pick him up, were afraid that anything would happen to him on a longer rode. When he knew they were moving just before he went to high school, he was afraid it would be on the other side of the country and then when it turned out that their new home was close to Hyunjin's and Seungmin's, he almost screamed for joy.

He pass through the gate of the establishment and immediately spotted his group of friends. They were gathered in the same place as usual, under the first tree to the right of the entrance. He walked up to them, avoiding shoving all the high school students who had given themselves a duty to pass in front of him.

"Hi everyone."

He catched Minho, the only senior in their group of friends, who gave him his morning hug (Jeongin was the only one to accept the affection of the oldest). He smiled at Hyunjin and Seungmin and then at Changbin and Jisung. Felix had not yet arrived; he was late like almost every day.

"So..." Seungmin said, "What did your parents say?"  
"For what?"  
"The beach!" exclaimed Minho. "My suitcase is practically full! Only five days left of class!"

Jeongin laughed at Minho's excitement but despite the amusement, quickly changed his expression. He pouted and felt Hyunjin and Seungmin get closer to him.

"They don't want me to go."  
"But why?!" said Jisung offended  
"There're no adults with us... and you know how much they don't like the idea of me being away from them…"  
"But there's Chan and my brother!" replied Seungmin, clearly disappointed. "Tell them that in addition to Chan, Woojin will be there!"

Jeongin made a grimace, not sure he wanted to revive the subject with his parents. He didn't want to come into conflict with them. Not when he had make them angry the day before. Minho put a hand on his shoulder.

"You're sixteen, Jeongin. It's time for them to trust you a little more. What could happen to you in two weeks anyway? Besides, we'll be with Woojin and Chan, they're very good at managing us."  
" I will ask them again tonight and..."

He was not able to finish his sentence because Changbin began to whistle, looking behind the youngest, with a smile on his face. He turned and opened his eyes wide. Felix stood behind him, blushing with discomfort, his eyes slightly hidden by the fringe of his red hair. They were not red last Friday.

"Hi... Do you like it?" asked the newcomer, passing a hand through his hair. The others nodded, Changbin and Hyunjin even pretending to be professional photographers complimenting Felix during a photo shoot. "My parents finally said yes."  
"It looks great on you."  
"Thank you."

Jeongin watched the scene in the background. He could not believe that Felix's parents had agreed. His parents would have refused at the word "dye" without hesitation. It was in this kind of moment that he realized how much he was being restrained by his parents and he did not like the jealousy he felt at the freedom that his friends enjoyed. Minho was right, he was sixteen, he was no longer a baby.

He was determined, he'd talk to his parents on his way home from school.


	2. Dance The Night Away

Jeongin's eyes were heavy. The little sleep he had had plus that long day at school, had exhausted him. He softly greeted his friends and went home. Immersed in his thoughts, he was surprised to hear his name shouted. He looked up and recognized Felix's mother's car and Felix's redhead through the window and his arm.

"Jeongin! See you tomorrow!" he exclaimed, shaking his arm as a sign of goodbye.

Jeongin imitated him, a smile on his face despite this unpleasant ball of jealousy in his belly. He was sixteen, he'd go to the beach. He was tired, but jealousy was fueled, he hurried home. About ten minutes before the curfew arrived, and his parents looked at him with surprise. He greeted them, took off his shoes, went to take a shower before taking a snack as they had demanded for as long as he could remember, and did his homework. All in front of his parents.

He wanted them to be happy with him before bringing the holiday topic back. At nine o'clock he closed all his notebooks and books, homeworks done and went to the kitchen to start preparing dinner. He prepared fried rice with kimchi and set the table as cleanly as possible. His parents joined him at the table. He waited for his mother to congratulate him on his dinner before talking.

"About the beach trip... Seungmin told me today that his brother would be there too. Do you know Woojin?"  
"Yes, we know Woojin but that doesn't mean we're going to change our minds."  
"But Dad!" he moaned. "We're just leaving for two weeks!"  
"Jeongin, we has already been talked about it." got impatient with his father. "You're too young for this kind of trip."

He thought about Felix's hair, Minho's piercings to his ears and Hyunjin's to his lip, the many nights Seungmin spent alone at home because his parents were constantly traveling, Changbin's tattoo on his side and the puppie Jisung got for his fourteen birthday ; to all the things that his friends had the right to do and not him.

"I'm sixteen!" he yelled, and it didn't seem to please her mother.

She looked up at him furiously, almost with bestiality. He petrified himself like a rabbit in front of a wolf, realizing that his time had come. She got up violently and he startled. He did not have time to ask forgiveness for his angry outburst that she slapped him.

"How dare you raise your voice on your father?" she said, grabbing the collar of his pajamas and shaking him back and forth. He let himself be, paralyzed by fear.

She dragged him to his room, manhandling him like a rag, not hesitating to bang him against the walls of the hallway at the slightest opportunity. He was dragged behind her, having trouble keeping up with his legs weakened by fear and his eyes full of tears. His heart was beating so hard in his chest and his brain was screaming "danger!" like every time it happened. His mother opened the door to his room and threw him inside. He lay on the ground, crying when his ankle failed to be trodden.

"You ungrateful bastard!" she yelled, kicking him in the tibia. He put his arms over his head and rolled into a ball as he was used to when one of his two parents (sometimes both) put himself in this state.

He refrained from screaming in pain (it annoyed his parents even more) when his mother stuck her nails in his arms to shake him again. She kicked him more.

"We feed you, lodge you and you yell at us?!"

She grabbed his hair at the back of his head and pull him up with a violent move. He rose in pain and their eyes crossed.

"You're not going to get out of this house for holliday. It will make you think about your attitude."

She pushed him down and let go of his hair. She straightened up, tied her long hair in an almost perfect bun and left the room. She closed the door behind her and Jeongin began to cry even louder when he heard the characteristic clic of the closed lock. He was again in the darkness of his room, alone and wounded.

Why did he let himself scream like that?

He wiped his eyes with the sleeves of his pajamas and climbed his bed. He retrieved his phone from under his mattress and turned on the flashlight. He grimaced when he spotted some drops of blood on the sleeve of his left arm and some larger ones on his thigh; where his mother's heels had tucked into his skin, scratching it trought the fabric.

He hardly lay down on his back and cursed himself for daring to lose his cool in front of his parents. He sent a message on the group chat. "I can't come, Sorry."

It was in this kind of moment that Jeongin hated his life the most. His parents were kind to him except when he had the misfortune to do something they did not like or when he disobeyed. Jeongin's teachers always noted with appreciation how polite, kind and calm he was and how a good student he was; it was so because he knew what could happen if he was not perceived so (a teacher who hated him for some unknown reason had once put on his report card that he spoke too much in class, his parents had hit him so hard and punished him for so long that he no longer dared to open his mouth in class even to ask for information). He rarely accepted physical contact (those of his long-time friends being an exception) because he was constantly afraid to be hit and had great difficulty talking to strangers because of his lack of self-confidence and in others. As a result, everyone thought he was weird, no one wanted to talk to him and he was sad all the time.

He dreamed that night that he was free and happy.


	3. Who Do You Love

When Jeongin awoke the next morning, his door was already unlocked. He moaned at every step he made towards the bathroom. He had the misfortune to look at himself in the mirror. He was in such a pitiful state with his dark circles and his body covered with bruises, scratches and dried blood; he felt bad for himself.  
He took a shower, his head empty when he stared at the blood mixed with the water clearing up and then disappearing once fully diluted.

He put on a long-sleeved top to prevent his scratches from being seen. He pested under his breath against his mother; she could have at least aimed at the legs, he would not have had to cover himself like this when time did not lend at all … The sun was already bright outside and it did not look like it could change for rain and wind.

He came out of the bathroom and made himself as discreet as possible on his way to the kitchen. He was surprised that his parents were not there. Instead, there was a post-it on the table. There was nothing written on it and he understood. His parents were giving him the silence treatment. He was sure he won't see them a lot for at least a week. They would leave early and come home late at night and refuse to talk to him no matter what he said. He hated it when they did that, he felt awfully alone ; more than usual.

"I'm going." his voice resonated in the solitude of the house and it was with a bitter taste in his mouth that he left.

When He arrived at school, Minho didn't have time to give him a hug that a whining Hyunjin overtook him to complain that he couldn't have a great holiday with his Jeongin. Jeongin laughed joylessly to try to convince his friends that it was okay, but as he crossed Jisung's unconvinced gaze, he realized that his disappointment was still noticeable.

"Can I come to your house this Wednesday, Innie?" asked Hyunjin, parting away just a little bit from the youngest. "I want to spend some time with you…"  
"I don't think my parents will say yes. We had a fight last night."  
"Oh..."

Hyunjin put a hand on his hair then gave him a second hug, he seemed so sad. Jeongin wondered if he knew what his parents were doing to him.

"Sit next to me today. " said the tallest of the two. Normally, his seatmate was Seungmin and Jeongin would sit behind them but from time to time, when things were not going well for Hyunjin or Jeongin, they would sit next to each other.

Hyunjin was the kind of person to drown his sorrow in tender gestures and sweet words, Jeongin did it in sleep; so when Hyunjin was sad, Jeongin became a real koala, all the time on his back or giving him hugs and Hyunjin would in exchange be his pillow at every break.

Seungmin did not seem surprised when he arrived in their classroom and found his seatmate sitting behind him, in Jeongin's arm. He gave him a small smile and he answered with an indifferent shrug.

Noon arrived soon and the classroom emptied just as quick if not faster. Jeongin took all his time to tidy up his table, telling his friends to go ahead. When he walked to the cafeteria, the hallway was empty, he liked that calm environment. Some found the empty school frightening, he liked it that way.

He passed through the reception and smiled at the employee who was there. He was about to keep going when he recognized Chan's messy hair.

"Sir, I really can't give it to you." said the woman behind the counter. He gave her a paper.  
"This is a letter from his older brother attesting that I am allowed to retrieve Seungmin's report card for him. Woojin is responsible for him when their parents are away."  
" I'm sorry sir, his brother has to come himself."  
"He's very busy..." he sighed and take the letter back "I understand, thank you anyway. Goodbye."

He turned around and was surprised to see Jeongin standing in the middle of the hallway. He quickly joined him and gave him a quick hug.

"Jeongin! How are you going?"  
"Great, what about you?"  
"I think I scared her a little bit," he replied, pointing to the door the reception with a laugh.

Chan had a particular style that could intimidate or feel uneasy many people in Korea. He had blond, curly hair, while the other boys his age had dark and straight hair ; he had several piercings on his face (one on the lower lip like Hyunjin and another on the right eyebrow arch) and on his ears too, he wore black and close-to-the-body outfits (like those faux leather pants that always made people turn around) and had a small but muscular body that always impressed. But despite this intimidating and somewhat rebellious air, there was no sweeter and kinder than Chan. It was for this tender side that Jeongin particularly appreciated him. He always acted like a big brother with his friends and Jeongin could not count the number of times he had helped them.

"Seungmin's brother is so busy that he can't pick up the report card himself? He wasn't there either for the parent-teacher meeting…"  
"He often has meetings at work... I heard your parents don't want you to come with us to the beach. Do you want me to talk to them?"  
"It's better not. They're angry," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

They went out into the yard and that's when the bad weather came out. Jeongin almost screamed with joy when he saw the big, menacing grey clouds. He would die of heat under his long-sleeved top and he took advantage of the first gust of wind (and the absence of people) to raise his arms and let the freshness rush into his top. He heard Chan laughing beside him and a kind of joy warmed his cheeks.

He was surprised when his arm was suddenly grabbed and pulled. He was pushed against a wall out of possible passer-by's sight, his heart pounding because of the abruptness similar to his mother's the day before. He looked up at his assailant. Chan stood in front of him, shocked, his eyes down to his stomach now covered by his top. He saw the marks.

Chan had never looked so pale.

"How did you do that to yourself? Is that..." he seemed furious "Did other kids hurt you?"

He was going to take him inside the school, but Jeongin prevented him from doing so.

"Chan, that's not what you think."  
"What do I think? That you were beaten? I don't see what else I could think!"

Jeongin startled at Chan's scream. The older seemed to calm down instantly. He dropped the youngest's wrist and put each of his hands on his forearms, doing encouraging low pressures.

"Tell me Innie who did this to you?"  
"What are you going to do if I tell you, anyway? Is it really that important?"  
"Of course it is. I don't want you to get hurt again. I can help you."

Jeongin knew Chan could do nothing but his eyes begging him made him feel that things would be better if he told someone. How many years had he been subjected to this violence? How many years did he keep everything to himself as if it was a duty? He felt so sad, so alone, so bad...

He burst into tears.

"M-my parents!" he hiccuped, wiping away the tears that flowed down his cheeks. Chan said nothing but took him in his arms. "I just wanted to go to the beach with you!"  
"Oh, Innie..." Chan squeezed him a little harder. He began to speak again once Jeongin's cries subsided. "We have to do something. Is that..." he hesitated, "Is this the first time it happened?"

Jeongin shook his head from right to left, and before he knew it, he unpacked everything he had on his heart, everything he had suffered, everything his parents had told him or did to him; how tired he was and how he was hurt everywhere. Chan listened in silence, bringing him consolation with caresses and hugs.

"Jeongin," he said after a while, "we have to go to the police. You can't go on living like this."  
"Will they do something?"  
"That's for sure! Look at you, what kind of police officer wouldn't take care of a child in this state?"

Jeongin looked down on his body, knowing in spite of the tissues where each of his bruises was. He sighed. Could he really denounced his parents like that? What would happen next? What would become of them? What would happen to him?

"Please... Let me take you to the police station."

Jeongin didn't know if he should accept, he didn't know if the police would really do something, he didn't know if he was going to regret it... He didn't know what was going to happen to his parents. Were they going to end up in jail? Would they survive their son's betrayal?

"My parents... What's going to happen to them?"  
"They won't be able to hurt you anymore."

But his parents could be nice sometimes. When he was a good kid, his mother was tender, she would give him hugs and kisses, his father would play cards or chess with him, and they would go to restaurants and movies together. They weren't mean, were they? It's just that these moments were rare because of him. If he were more obedient, maybe they would be nicer to him. It was all his fault.

"I can't do that to them. It's because of me that they're like that."

Chan's eyes began to shine; tears threatened to fall.

"You had nothing to do with it. Hitting your child this way... It's not right, no matter what he did. You shouldn't suffer like that."

He had long believed that what his parents were doing to him was normal, and then he realized the pristin milky skin of Hyunjin's legs or Seungmin's arms whithout bruises, and understood that he was the only one who goes through this. He knew he was the only treated this badly.

"Let me help you."

Jeongin nodded. Chan hugged him. They left school. The ride was silent, the car's engine and the gear shift filling the space. Jeongin felt himself gone, sleep taking over, but he was pulled out of his torpor when the vehicle stopped and Chan passed a hand through his hair.

"We arrived," he said softly, as if he was talking to an injured animal.

Jeongin came out quickly, convincing himself that the sooner he would finish, the sooner he could move on.

The police station was empty at that time. There were only a few policemen sitting in front of their lunch. When Chan and Jeongin approached the desk behind which two of them were sitting, the one on the right boasting that he had a lunch prepared by his girlfriend. They looked at them curiously, perhaps wondering why two boys were coming to their office.

"Hello". said Chan  
"Hello boys. What can we do for you?"  
" My friend would like to press charges of assault."

The two men glanced curiously at Jeongin. He was sixteen years old but compared to his classmates, he was much smaller and thiner. He always looked sick but people tended to focus on his big, cute but dull eyes, unconsciously forgetting his state. He swam a little in his clothes because his parents didn't bother checking the sizes before buying them, making him even more adorable. He didn't look abused because we couldn't get over his cute apparence.

"Who's beating you, kid?"

Jeongin looked up at Chan, unsure, then looked at the policeman.

" M-my parents, sir..."

The two men laughed, finding the idea absurd. They must have found it unthinkable for parents to attack their child. They were young and probably inexperienced; not being in this service long enough to realize the true horrors that others could experience. Chan became angry at the lack of professionalism of the two policemen.

"It's serious," he said in a tone they didn't like.  
One of them leaned forward, menacing.  
"Calm down. The kid's clearly fine."

Jeongin looked up at Chan to observe his reaction. Two of his piercings collided when he put his hands flat on the desk.

"I tell you his parents beat him."  
"With your face, I'm sure you're the one who hurts him. Go before we get you locked up."  
"Call your superior. I'd like to talk to a competent cop."

The second policeman got up and grabbed Chan by the collar. He murmured, "Accusing his parents for your actions... Motherfucker."  
"I didn't do anything to him. I try to help him, unlike you two."

He freed himself from the policeman and gently grabbed Jeongin's hand (which contrasted with his obvious anger) and walked away with him.

"Fucking Cop.", he said loudly as he heads for the exit.  
"You fucking punk?! Get out of here before we keep you for the night! We'll see what your parents say when they pick you up in the morning!"

Chan shouted at them that he was an adult, and led Jeongin to his car. He took him back to high school, right in time for the start of afternoon classes. He had bought him a sandwich during the ride and Jeongin had never squeezed anything so tightly in his hands. He had to go home tonight and his parents would still be there, judging him silently and ready to hit him if he did something wrongly.

"I'm sorry, Innie. Once again, my look betrayed us...  
"I like your look."

He gave him a sad smile.

"Thank you. Call me if anything happens. No matter what time it is, okay?"  
"Okay."

Jeongin got out of the vehicle and without turning back went into the school. He would never call Chan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the kudos for the first chapters and for the bookmarks as well ❤ I didn't expect it ! I hope you like this chapter too !  
> See you next Friday !


	4. Everything

It was too late to go to the cafeteria so Jeongin went straight back to his classroom. Hyunjin and Seungmin had already finished eating. They were both sitting at their table, whispering about God knows what. A few students were seated at the front of the class but did not make a noise, sleeping or listening to music trought their earphones.

"Where were you?" asked Seungmin as soon as Jeongin sat down next to them. He looked at the sandwich, "Were you out?"  
"I met Chan. He bought it for me."  
" What was he there for?"  
"Your report card. Woojin couldn't come."  
"Oh..."

Seungmin shrugged again, this time clearly disappointed. He was self-reliant, reasonable and liked loneliness, but it tended to become sufferable after a while. He did not see much of his parents who were always abroad because of their work and his older brother had left home very early, deciding to stop studying to start working immediately. (Jeongin knew this decision had something to do with Chan but it was a taboo subject for his friends so he was always in the dark about this story.) Seungmin felt lonely and it was worse when Woojin was too caught up in his work and didn't visit him as often as usual. When Seungmin displayed this disappointed look, Jeongin or Hyunjin tried to get him to come to their houses the most, but recently he started to refuse systematically. Jeongin was very concerned about this.

"At least, you'll spend time with him during holidays!" He said, smiling. Seungmin imitated him.

Their Korean teacher came into the classroom, asking them to sit correctly, to open their book then started his lecture. Jeongin didn't listen, deep in his thoughts and worries.

With what Chan had told him, he had thought that he will be free of his parents but now that the policemen had refused to help him, he was condamned to stay with them. He wanted to be free, to not fear hits anymore and to laugh carefreely like his friends.

"Well kids, that's all for today. See you tomorrow. And don't forget your homework !"

The students left the room quickly. Jeongin came out of his thoughts when Hyunjin grabbed him by the hand and dragged him out of the school. The whole little group joined at the gate but Jeongin could not stay with them for long because he had to return home before the curfew. He was kind of relieved to leave them because they were talking actively about their holidays and he was still jealous of them and he didn't like being jealous of his friends.

He came home just in time for curfew. He unlocked the front door, took off his shoes, put his backpack on the purpose chair in the entrance, and put on his slippers. He finally looked up to his room and stopped sharp before crashing into his father's bust. He had his arms folded against his torso, his face darkened by anger; his wife imitating him by his side. Jeongin recoiled a few steps, getting off of his father.

"Dad? Mom?" he really didn't expect to find them already home. Nor them looking so dissatisfied.

Mr. Yang separated his arms, revealing what he was hiding; Jeongin's phone. Not the one on the furniture in the entrance, the one that was supposed to be under his mattress. Jeongin felt his whole body cool down and his heart got racing. He fixed the phone, petrified despite his instinct screaming him to run as fast as possible. He was screwed.

"What that is?" asked his father, his voice menacing. Of course he had already figured out what was going on behind his back, he just wanted Jeongin to admit his crime. He couldn't do it, because the rational part of his brain had been disabled by fear.

"Dad, it's not…"  
"Is not what, Jeongin?" Well?!" He smashed the phone to the ground. "Are you hiding things from us?! With what money did you buy that?!"  
"My friends gave it to me, I... I didn't think…"

Jeongin stop himself from screaming when his father tried to catch him and fell, his legs no longer supporting him. Mr. Yang was screaming, but his son could hear nothing because of all the blood that was passing through his ears at full speed to the beat of his panicked heart. He perceived insults and to each of them his eyes filled more and more with tears. He felt large hands grab him by the collar of his shirt and drag him down the hallway that led to his room. He slipped on the floor, trying to wrestle, to escape his father's strong grip, but nothing helped. They passed the bathroom door and then the door of the master bedroom, and Jeongin knew it was too late; The next door was his room, his torture room.

If his mother could only push him there, his father had enough strength to throw him there. His whole body met the ground so violently that momentarily his breathing was cut off. He had no time to catch his breath that his father's big hand fell on his face.

"Not the face," says his mother simply in the background, cold and distant as every time his father beat him. "He has class tomorrow."

Mr. Yang growled with displeasure and struck Jeongin in the legs. Mrs. Yang nodded and then left, abandoning her son to his sad fate. Mr. Yang did not punch, he simply hit with the flat of his hand but he was so strong, so full of rage and violent impulses that he still left traces on Jeongin's skin. And compared to his wife , he insulted Jeongin, breaking him mentally more.

"You should die instead of showing yourself like this before me, unworthy son! Die!" he struck him again and again; banging Jeongin's head every time on the cold floor. Ignoring his pleas, his cries of pain and the tears that flowed down his reddish face. 

He thought that he did deserve to die before he fell into unconsciousness.

When he regained consciousness, it was already dark outside. He lay on the ground for a quarter of an hour, crying again at the realization that he had lost his only freedom and had been thus abandoned in his room like a overused object.

Feverish and nauseous, he turned his head painfully towards the door. He foolishly hoped to see his mother or father ready to comfort and heal him, to reassure him with sweet words and caresses. All he saw was a closed door and a post-it stick in the middle of it. He crawled to the wooden panel and to his relief, his arm was long enough for him to grab the paper without having to get up. In the dim light of his room he struggled to read what was written.

"Since your friends have so much money to lose for a waste like you, ask them to pay you food too."

Jeongin let go of the post-it, a desire to vomit contracting his whole body. Why did he have to go through all this? What had he done in his previous life to receive this kind of treatment? Why were his parents not like those of Changbin or Felix or Minho or Hyunjin? Why did they love him so violently?

Chan was right. He did not have to live like this. No parent should hit so violently their child.

He suddenly got up, forgetting the pain that was biting his whole body and his previous urge to die. Chan was right. He opened his closet, took out the backpack that his grandmother had given him because she did not know that he already had one for this school year and stuffed several pairs of jeans, several tops, few objects he saw and his bathing suit. He was going to the beach. Chan was right.

The clock showed past midnight. His parents were already asleep.

His heart was pounding in his ribcage and despite the blood pouring in his ears, Chan's voice was perfectly perceptible to him. No parent should treat their child like this. Jeongin didn't have to go through that.

He closed the bag and turned to the window he hated so much. At that very moment, he loved it. He opened the shutters wide and threw his bag. Without taking any time to doubt, he climbed to the ledge and gained momentum before jumping. He closed his eyes and only reopened them when he almost fell on his mother's bushes. He moaned because of the pain, but it did not stop him from getting up quickly and picking up his bag. Fortunately, his window wasn't too high. He trotted to the gate which he opened without problem, having not locked it when entering this afternoon (because he knew... he had sensed that he would be here that night).

The gate whined, displeased at having been awakened so early, Jeongin turned abruptly to the front door, expecting to see his father come out to break his neck; it was not the case. With his heart beating with hope this time, he passed through the gate.

As soon as his sneakers hit the cold pavement, he ran away. He had never run so fast before. He felt like a prey on the run, a prey that if was slowing down would perish under the big and powerful jaw of death. He was frantically looking at his house as it grew smaller and smaller.

He slowed down only when he could only breathe in rough and short strokes, his head spinning and his vision was no longer clear.

It took him a while to recognize the neighborhood. Blue roofs and white walls, then yellow walls, then white, then yellow...

"Hyunjin lives around here."

He looked around him and spotted a green mailbox covered with childish drawings; the same ones that Hyunjin and Jeongin at the age of six had painted under a beautiful summer sun. It had been a happy day in his life.

"Hyunjin..." he whispered, limping to the porch, tired of his run.

He pressed the doorbell, two, three, four times before the door opened.

"Jeongin?! What are you..." Hyunjin stopped talking, worried. "Are you OK?"

He wore these yellow pajamas with waffles designs that Jeongin found absolutely adorable and his hair was not raised like when he went to high school, his fringe fell on his pretty eyes. They were wide open, no signs of fatigue on his face, he was not sleeping when Jeongin arrived.  
He let himself be pulled by the sleeve by the older boy to bring him in. He watched the street briefly before closing the door.

"Sit down."

Jeongin stepped into the living room lit only by the television screen, which was broadcasting a drama he had never heard of. He sat down on the couch, a sense of security enveloping him. His head buzzed less and everything became clearer around him. His heart beat slower, less strong; he could finally think properly. He realized what he had done.

Hyunjin gasped, shocked. "Oh no... Don't cry Innie."

Jeongin had run away; he had run away from his own parents. Oh my god... They were going to be furious. They were going to strangle him, scratch him, beat him.

"Hey! Jeongin, listen to me!"

Hyunjin sat by his side and took his face in his hands, wiping away his tears with his thumbs. Jeongin blinked to clear his eyesight. A few tears escaped. His friend became clearer.

"Who did this to you? What happened?"

Jeongin had the whole right side of his face swollen because of all the times his face had hit the ground earlier in the evening. The area was awfully red but it didn't feel anything.

"I... I don't know." he hesitated "Chan... Chan told me... I don't know."  
"Do you want me to call him?"

He nodded. Hyunjin took out his phone from under a cushion and dialled the blond's number (of course he knew him by heart, he was the first person he thought he would contact in this kind of situation). Jeongin looked at the television, finding some comfort in seeing the main couple of the drama wandering the streets of Seoul talking about love.

He startled when a hand landed on his. "Innie, Chan's coming with Woojin, you don't mind?"

He shook his head from right to left without leaving the screen of his sight. Woojin may have been Seungmin's brother, but he didn't know him that well. However, he always inspired him calm, serenity and gentleness and he liked it.

"I'm going to make tea..."

Hyunjin tried to get up, but Jeongin prevented him from doing so. He looked with wet eyes at the older boy who could not resist. He sat down, drew Jeongin against him and hugged him until about ten minutes later, someone came at the door.

Jeongin felt great against Hyunjin, wrapped in his warmth and his smell so familiar and reassuring. His hair fell on his own forehead and even if it tickled him a little, he did not want to depart from it, appreciating the contact and the smell of shampoo that emanated from it.

"I have to open the door," Hyunjin whispered as he parted from Jeongin.

He feared for a moment that it was his parents and then relaxed when he recognized Chan's blonde hair. As soon as their eyes crossed, Chan rushed to him to take him in his arms. He knelt down, then take his hands, looking worried. Jeongin began to cry violently. Chan took him back in his arms.

"It's over. We're here now."

Jeongin felt the sofa slumped beside him and a large hand stroked his back and another softer voice whispering reassuring words to him. It was Kim Woojin.

"My parents... They found my phone. It's broken now," he whispered, and Chan realized he'd been hit again.

Chan and Woojin exchanged glances.

"They refused to help us at the police station because of... of me." said Chan, lowering his gaze. "Could you take him there tomorrow, please?"

Silence.

"Let's do this," Woojin finally says. His hand left Jeongin's back and he got up, catching the boy's bag with one hand and Jeongin's in the other. "Hyunjin, we're going. Thank you for calling Chan."

He helped Jeongin getting up then dragged him, Chan following them. They got out of the house. A blue car (which Jeongin had never seen before) was parked in front. Woojin made him sit on the passenger side and sat behind the wheel while Chan sat in the back.

"You're sleeping at our house tonight and tomorrow, you and I will go to the station at the opening."  
"You know everything?" asked Jeongin shyly.  
"Chan can't hide anything from me, don't blame him for telling me."  
"No problem..."

He was ashamed of what he was going through, the attitude of his parents and his cowardice and Woojin knowing was not putting him at ease. But since Woojin was probably his last chance of escaping the hell of his home, he could not be angry with Chan for explaining the situation to him.

Woojin and Chan's apartment was small but very clean (if you omitted the pile of dirty clothes he had seen in Chan's room when he had to put his bag in it) and comfortable. There was a small kitchen separated from the small living room by a counter, a small terrace with plants, a small bathroom and two bedrooms as wide as the living room. It was soon decided that Jeongin would sleep on the sofa covered with plaids and cushions.

"Go take a shower and put this on," Chan said, handing him a shirt so big it almost reached his knees.

Jeongin thanked him. He entered the bathroom, was careful to not look in the mirror, took a well-deserved hot shower and quickly get out. He expected to be alone in the living room so he was surprised to find Woojin sitting on the floor near the coffee table with two cups of tea in front of him.

"Drink it. Chamomile tea is renowned for relaxing."  
"Thank you."  
"Chan's sleeping, he's working tomorrow"

Jeongin felt guilty, for making him get up so late. He sigh.

"Thank you for tonight... and for tomorrow too."

Woojin smiled at him. He passed his warm hand in the younger hair.

"You're welcome. Come on... Go to bed."

Jeongin lay down on the couch and Woojin arranged the sheet on him before putting the cups in the sink. He waved to Jeongin and locked himself in his room. Lying in the living room lit by the few lunar rays that crossed the glass bay, Jeongin finally felt all his fatigue.

For the first time in a long time, he fell asleep quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me : See you next Friday !  
> Also me : post one week in advance
> 
> I had this chapter fully written in my laptop for a few days now and I was supposed to post it Friday put I couldn't wait >~< so... surprise !
> 
> I hope you like it ! Thanks for the comments and kudos, they always give me the will to write <3
> 
> Anyways ! You can find me on twitter @chatsouriant ! I need friends :')
> 
> See you next Friday, for sure this time >:3


	5. Blue Limonade

The next morning, Jeongin was awakened by the smell of freshly torrefied coffee and the sound of a device turned on. He opened an eye and recognized Woojin's broad back. He was in the kitchen, a thoughtful expression on his face. He observed Jeongin anxiously before realizing that he was awake.

"Hello Jeongin, toasts?" asked Woojin, smiling now.

Jeongin wondered what he could think of to frown that way. He got up and sat shyly at the table. His face was less swollen than the day before and his eyes less red. A little more and we could have sworn that nothing had happened to him.

"Yes, please," he replied. He glanced at the closed door of Chan's room.

"He's already gone to work. We'll call him when we get back from the police station, okay?  
"Okay."

Woojin laid a plate full of freshly made toasts in front of him. The sound of ceramics coming into contact with the wood of the table finished to wake Jeongin. He got up abruptly and threaded the apron carelessly attached to the handle of the oven around him. He searched the cupboards to find what he needed to make a hearty breakfast.

He knew that he was not at home and that his parents were not there to demand a meal, but his brain was pushing him to act out of habit and he was not in a position to go against it.

Woojin watched him go around, completely lost. When Jeongin came to stop in front of his ingredients, he put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Your toasts will cool down."  
"I have to make breakfast. What are you going to eat?"  
"I can manage on my own. Go sit down."

Jeongin sat down, staring at his toasts. Woojin joined him with some fruits and a knife in hand. They started eating. After a while, the older man stopped cutting his fruits to fix the youngest who gently chewed a toast. Finally, he says:

"Do you often cook breakfast at home?"

Jeongin swallowed what he had in his mouth and looked up at Woojin. He remained silent for a few seconds as if looking for his words and then simply replied:

"Every morning."  
"Do your parents get up late?"  
"No but they like to take their time in the morning and not having to cook makes them happy."  
"What about you?"  
"Me?"

Jeongin didn't understand what he implied. What did he have to do about his parents' happiness? Woojin seemed annoyed. He placed a peeled tangerine on Jeongin's plate, next to his toasts.

"Were you happy to make breakfast every morning?  
"No..."

The number of times he arrived late at school because his parents had asked him for something very complex to prepare, the number of times he had been hit in the thighs or ribs for missing a dish... He had never felt joy in making food. Just a certain satisfaction and pride when his parents were happy with what he had cooked.

"I... I don't like to cook."

Woojin sighed, placed a peeled apple next to the tangerine, got up and threw the fruit peels into the trash.

"I'm sure one day you'll like it."

Something in Woojin's voice gave Jeongin the impression that it was true. That one day he would make food and feel joy. That every time he will go in the kitchen, would be singing and smiling. He hoped that day would come soon.

Woojin left the kitchen, asking Jeongin to quickly finish his breakfast so they could go to the police station.

In the same way as with Chan, Jeongin entered the police station almost hidden behind Woojin. He walked with his back straight, the step decided, the gaze determined; everything Jeongin couldn't do. He thought briefly that he would like to be like him.

They sat in the same office as the day before, but the two police officers who were sitting there were not the same. One of them was almost hidden by a pile of folder while the other was taking care of his nails while swaying in his chair.

"Hello," Woojin said to get their attention.  
"Hi." replied the one with the files "What's going on?"  
"We would like to file a complaint. My friend here is having problems with his parents."

The officer nodded and pulled out a sheet of a drawer. He handed it to Woojin with a pen. He asked them to fill it out so he could process their application. The two boys applied themselves to filling each box with care and accuracy.

"Is it good?" said Woojin. Jeongin reread what he had write one last time before nodding, his heart pounding. This policeman was clearly more competent than the ones from yesterday. He held out the sheet with a trembling hand of excitement to the policeman, but before he could grab it, a hand snatched it from Jeongin's grip.

"You again?!" exclaimed the policeman of the previous day angrily. He tore jeongin's document and heart by extension. "We've talked about this before! Go home and be obedient to your parents!"  
"Sir, this is very serious," Woojin interjected under the confused gaze of the other two policemen.

The third shrugged his shoulders, rolled the two pieces of sheet into a ball and grabbed Jeongin by the wrist to force him to stand up. He had no trouble lifting him up and dragging him towards the exit. Woojin got up from his chair and rushed to the policeman to let go of the boy.

He freed him only once he had thrown him out of the post, Woojin on his heels.

"We won't deal with any complaints from you, kid. Stop coming here or we'll contact your parents," the policeman said before closing the station door.

This threat was enough for Jeongin to move away from the building at high speed, with his heart pounding and fear in his eyes. He did not stop until Woojin grabbed him by the shoulder. The brown took him in his arms and held him against him until he stopped shaking.

"Where are you going ?" he asked, whispering.  
"Home. Before my parents realize i'm gone," he replied against the older man's neck.  
"I don't want you to go back there. Stay at our house."  
"I have to go home."

Jeongin burst into tears, circling Woojin with his arms and making no sign of letting him go. The brown tightened his grip, sighing.

"Why do you say things like that but act like you regret it, hm?" he wasn't scolding him, he sounded so sad for the boy.  
" I don't want to go back there..." admitted Jeongin

He had had so much hope and joy at the time but all this had been snatched away from him so quickly that it had made him too shocked for him to keep a façade like he did with Chan. Woojin knew how devastated he was, he saw it and heard it perfectly.

"Stay at our house, then. We're going to find a way to make things right, okay? I promise you that."

Woojin gave him hope, and although Jeongin regretted believing in his good promises the first time, he believed him again; he had become addicted to this feeling, to this idea of a fresh start.

The journey to the apartment of the two older members of the group was silent. Jeongin sniffed loudly next to Woojin, who occasionally handed him handkerchiefs when the opportunity arose.

As soon as they returned, Woojin put Jeongin to bed and asked him to rest.

"I'll wake you up when Chan gets here."

Jeongin put his head on the pillow and closed his eyes. Despite the fatigue, he did not fall asleep immediately. He thought of Woojin's attitude. Chan was a naturally willing person to protect anyone at anytime but Woojin... Woojin may have been gentle, kind and calm, but he did not see in him this protective instinct. Did he take so much care of Jeongin because Chan cared about him or was it on his own? Was he like that with Seungmin too, or the fact of not living in the same house created a gap between them that prevented him from being so affectionate and protective of his own little brother? You've never seen them interact, Jeongin, stop thinking things aren't going well between them, he thought. Maybe he was like that because he felt sorry for him? Or maybe he just likes you. In any case, he appreciated the way Woojin reassured him and hoped that their paths would cross again in better circumstances.

Smelling Woojin's reassuring scent on the pillow, Jeongin fell asleep.

"Hey, Jeonginnie... Chan's home."

Jeongin opened his eyes, surprised to have fallen asleep without realizing it. The sun clearly higher up in the sky and the smell of warm food indicated that it was close to noon. He stood up and put his forehead on Woojin's shoulder. The older laughed in silence, rubbing the youngest's back.

"Come on. We're waiting for you in the kitchen."

Chan was sitting at the kitchen table, tons of paper spread out in front of him, a red highlighter in one hand and his phone in the other. He was in the middle of a telephone conversation when Jeongin sat down in front of him. He used terms that the youngest did not know while he was highlighting some information on the sheets. He smiled at Jeongin before getting back into his discussion. He hung up when Woojin patted his shoulder to tell him that the meal was ready and that he had to free the table so they could eat.

"Well... That's it," he says, making a pile of his papers and placing them on the coffee table in the living room. "How did it go at the station?" he asked, not noticing Jeongin's sad look.

Woojin laid a plate full of rice, vegetables and beef in front of Jeongin and then a another one in front of Chan.

"They kicked us out. Jeongin will stay with us." his tone left no room for discussion.

Chan nodded to show that he understood and then began to eat. His phone on the table suddenly began to vibrate as if possessed and he unlocked it to see what it was. He smiled tenderly at his screen.

"It's Hyunjin. He wants to know how you are," he announced with a mocking smile, "Ah... I wish I had such a caring lover!" he complains exaggeratedly.

Jeongin blushed. "Hyunjin is not my boyfriend!  
" Oh? You sure 'cause…"  
"Chaaaan stop!" cried Jeongin, as red as a tomato.

The blond burst out laughing and then shifted his attention to his phone. His face darkened a little. Jeongin did not realize it, troubled by the idea that there might be something between him and Hyunjin. Yes, Hyunjin was nice and beautiful and Jeongin loved him very much... But as a friend. Having feelings more... strong, was not... He did not allow himself to do so.

"Minho asks what time we leave to get to the beach. What do I say to him?" Chan interrupted Jeongin's thoughts.

Woojin finally sat down with his own plate, anxious. "Are we still going?"  
"You think it's better to cancel ?"  
"I don't know... Jeongin..." he glanced uncertainly at him. "Do you still want to go?"  
"Y-yes!"

Woojin nodded but did not change his expression. He looked annoyed and Jeongin wondered if it was his fault.

"We still have to find a way to prevent your parents from getting you back..." he said finally.

He was right. Jeongin may have been hiding for now, but he should go out one day and his parents would surely find him; especially since he was a minor and depended on them for the State. If he did not find a legal way to free himself from them, he would have to return to their side until he reached his majority. He didn't want that. 

"What can we do?" he asked, hoping that one of the older two would find a solution.

Chan giggled in his chair, weighing the pros and cons of the idea that had just sprouted in his mind. His plan seemed ideal in theory, but in practice he was not so sure. He crossed Woojin's curious gaze.

"Maybe we could ask my parents to take care of this. They will be able to make the gait to the police station. None of us have been taken seriously, I guess as adults they will be. Then they represent you during the trial. They're lawyers."  
"The best ones in the region." Added Woojin. "You were on the phone with them this morning, were you talking about that?"

Chan grimaced and Jeongin knew that Woojin was not going to like the answer.

"Not really... I borrowed money from them."  
"W-what... Chan! We've talked about this before! We can't keep resting on them!"  
"This is the last time!" he defended himself, "When I came back from vacation, I'll be able to pay them back quickly and I won't ask them for anything."

Woojin looked at him skeptically. Chan blushed, looking away and then scoffed: "Mr. Lee gave me a promotion on the way home, enough to pay them back, pay the rent and always have money left."  
"If you say so."

Woojin did not seem convinced but said nothing more. Chan finished eating first and fleed to his room, taking his documents and phone with him. Woojin watched him leave quickly, continuing to eat his lunch quietly. Jeongin didn't understand everything that was going on, why Chan borrowing money from his parents bothered Woojin and why Chan was so embarrassed to upset Woojin about something that barely concerned him. Was Woojin always as hard as that with Chan or was it just because of the subject? It was the first time Jeongin saw him so annoyed.

"Do you have any homework to do for back-to-school?" the older man suddenly asked. Jeongin nodded cautiously, wondering if it would bother him too. "I will ask Seungmin to take his books with him. There's no way you both are coming back without doing anything, okay?"  
"Yeah. Mrs. Im would be furious."

Perhaps it was due to Jeongin's sulky face or his shy tone, but Woojin finally smiled after what seemed like an eternity and the younger one imitated him quickly.

"She's your head teacher, isn't she? She probably wonders where you've been. Do you have her number?"  
"Yes.  
"I'll call her later."

At about sixteen o'clock Woojin took his phone, dialed Mrs. Im's number and called her. He claimed to be Jeongin's father calling to explain that there had been a death in the family and that for that reason they had to go to the other side of the country and Jeongin therefore could not attend the last days of classes before the holidays. Jeongin had observed Woojin doing, impressed by his ability to lie. Mrs. Im had believed him quickly, gave her condolences and hung up just after Woojin wished her a good evening.

"Thank you Woojin."

__________

"Our son!"

Mrs. Yang was upset at a point where everyone present so late in the evening at the police station had turned to her and her husband at her shout.

The policeman seated behind his desk maintained a quiet attitude. Without looking up at Mr. and Mrs. Yang, he pulled out a document to fill and pressed his pens, a mechanical gesture.

"Name and surname?"  
"Yang Jeongin."  
"Age and weight? Do you have a picture of him?"

The woman frantically rummaged through her bag until she pulled out a wallet from which she hardly pulled out a recent photograph of Jeongin. It was from last year, a class photo enlarged and cut out so that only her son would appear. She handed it to the police officer, her hands trembling. Her face was nervously tense and her husband didn't look any better.

The officer wrote some additional information and made a copy of the photograph which he then stapled to the document containing a rectangle provided for this purpose. He finally raised his annoyed gaze towards the two adults.

"How long has he been missing?"  
"We don't know exactly." replied Mr. Yang. "He wasn't in his room tonight and we left this morning before he woke up."  
"So only a few hours? You know that the procedure requires a minimum of forty-two hours of waiting before starting the search?"  
"Yes, but our son..."

The officer sighed. He put the document on a large pile and gathering his both hands, crisscrossing his fingers, leaned forward and said: "Your son is probably on a walk, he's sixteen. At that age, we rebel. Give him time to come back on his own…"  
"Jeongin is not like that!"

Alerted by the woman's screams, another policeman appeared.

"What's going on?"

Mr. Yang explained the situation and reluctantly handed the photograph to the man. He studied it for a moment before opening his eyes wide in surprise.

"I know this kid!" he exclaimed, "He was there... One, no, two days ago!"

Mr. and Mrs. Yang were surprised to learn this, not understanding what Jeongin had done here.

"He was there with a blond-haired guy, a real delinquent! He insulted me and my colleague!"  
"Our son was with stranger?! Maybe he's in danger!"  
"We should start the kidnapping alert," said the policeman, turning to his colleague. He sighed but finished filling out the document and put it on his stack of important files. "The document is completed and signed but I prefer that we respect the procedure, not doing so could harm us. I'm sorry, but we're going to have to wait. We will issue the alert in two days." his tone was unmistakable and none of the other three adults dared to oppose his decision."

Mrs. Yang burst into tears and Mr. Yang took her in her arms to comfort her. He would take revenge on the bastard who had attack his family.

__________

It was decided that Jeongin would stay safe at home while Woojin and Chan went to work. They did so for two days. Chan came home first. They both made dinner listening to music and then Woojin came home, finding them doing or fixing a mistake. They dined, watched television for almost two good hours and then went to bed (Jeongin had left the couch for Chan's bed after he allowed him to use it).

At first Jeongin was happy not to go to school (he was always bored there) but after two hours spent alone after Chan and Woojin's departure to work on the first day, he had realized that if he could not find something to do soon, he would eventually die of boredom. So he relied on the television to keep him busy. He watched programs about plants or animals and then the few interesting films and cartoons he found by changing channels randomly.

On the third day, when he had turned on the television to spend hours in front of it, wallowed on the sofa as he had become accustomed to, what appeared on the screen afraid him.

In the middle of the morning news, the presenter announced a serious case and a photo of Jeongin from last year as well as another of very poor quality of Chan's back were displayed on the screen. It was a search notice accusing Chan of kidnapping. The presenter described a tall, dark and dangerous man and a poor, fragile and innocent high school student, entwined in a morbid case of false complaint and premeditated kidnapping.

Jeongin froze in horror.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone ! I hope you liked this chapter :)
> 
> Come say hello on twitter (@chatsouriant), i need some friends :') there's a lot of tweets written in french (because, well... I'am french. surprise !) but I mostly interact with other in english ;)
> 
> Anyway, i hope that you are spending a good day, you are and happy <3
> 
> See you next Friday !


	6. Gang Gang Schiele

It took Jeongin several seconds for him to rush to the phone, his hands shaking so much that he had trouble pressing the keys of the device to dial Chan's number. A trembling sigh crossed his lips when he finally pressed the call button. Each tone reinforced the horrible panic that twisted his stomach and compressed his lungs. Tears quickly obstructed his view and the living room lit in a soft morning light gave way to stains of color striking in an alarming manner.

They think that Chan kidnapped me... Oh my God... Oh my God! OH MY G-

"Hello?"

Chan's voice was so calm and relaxing and although it usually had the gift of appeasing the youngest, he could not calm down. The blond seemed to understand his condition when he sniffed loudly, tears coming down his face.

"Innie, what's wrong?" he says always calmly but with a hint of worry.

The boy hiccupped several times before taking a deep breath. He concentrated as much as possible on stabilizing his voice.

"They said you kidnapped me on TV... Please come home." He cried. He did not hold for long and started crying again, his throat knotting and his breathing becoming more and more difficult.

He heard him talking to someone else and Jeongin realized that he had to be at a meeting, hence the control he showed contrary to Jeongin. His voice became clearer, signaling that he had once again approached the phone.

"I'll be home soon."

There was a silence between them, Jeongin sniffing and Chan breathing and exhaling slowly into the phone's microphone. Unconsciously, the youngest imitated him and soon felt his lungs relax and his breathing resumed a normal rhythm.

"Call Woojin, for me, okay?"  
"Okay."

He had wanted to ask Chan to be careful and come quickly, but Chan hung up before he could. The body still shaken by his sobs, he composed with less difficulty the number of Woojin (which he had taken the time to write on a post-it that he had stuck under the base of the phone).

The place seemed full around Woojin. When he picked up, Jeongin's ear was attacked by loud voices, screams, laughter and what appeared to be cries of despair. Jeongin momentarily forgot the reason for his call. The noise seemed to fade and Jeongin's brain, less submerged, reconnected on the first problem.

"Hello, Jeongin? Sorry for all the fuss, budget meeting, I seriously need a vacation... Anyway! What's going on?"

Jeongin explained the situation and he heard Woojin return to the noisy room, shout that he had to go home because of a family affair and leave immediately afterwards, not waiting for the permission of his superior.

"I'm coming, Jeongin."

How could things have gone so wrongly? The day before he still thought of going on vacation and living the best two weeks of his life and today all his dreams were falling apart. Did his parents raise the alarm? surely. But how did they come to the conclusion that his kidnapper could be Chan? Didn't they recognize him? This seemed plausible since the photo was of poor quality in addition to being a back (a miracle that Chan constantly showed his back to the CCTV), and that he and Jeongin's parents had not seen each other for a year and a half (the last time Mr. and Mrs. Yang were in the garden when he had dropped Jeongin off after the literature club).

Could their plan keep going despite this?

Jeongin thought of finding his parents before things got out of hand, but had no time to retrieve his bag from Chan's room as the door opened and Woojin appeared, totally distraught. He rushed to Jeongin and took his face in his hands wiping away the memories of tears on his cheeks.

"How are you, Innie?  
"Fine," he replied shyly, suddenly aware of his pitiful state.  
"Good. I need your help to fill the suitcases."

what?

"We're still leaving? But Chan..."  
"I got him on the phone. We keep our plan, but we're more discreet."  
"But Chan..." he sighed, unable to believe what he was about to say. "Listen, I'm going to go home now, clear up the situation and it'll all be over."

Woojin looked up at his phone on which he typed a long message about their common group; he was shocked.

He said, "What? No, no, no, you're not going anywhere."  
"But Woojin..."  
"Jeongin you can't— I can't let you do that. Not while knowing what they did to you. I've seen the bruises and I never want to see any more on you, you understand that?"  
"Well, I'd rather have some bruises than see Chan in jail for something so stupid." retorted Jeongin, walking away from Woojin.

The older man looked astonished by this sudden rebellion, but he did not remain so for long. His face took a neutral expression and he exhaled air through his nose before heading to his room. Jeongin, who did not expect this reaction, stood in the middle of the living room, looking with surprise at the direction to which Woojin had gone.

He didn't know what to do. He felt bad about having spoken to Woojin like that. Should he go and see him? Apologize? Or convince him to let him go? He really didn't want Chan to suffer from this situation. He was made to look like a cruel being when he was anything but that; he was a hero... And so was Woojin.

He walked in silence to the door of Woojin's room knocked twice.

"Woojin, can I come in?"

No answer. He knocked again. Still nothing. He lowered the door knob.

Woojin sat on the ground in front of a small green suitcase and several piles of clothing around him. He was busy folding them and then putting them in a pile in the suitcase. He had not stopped when Jeongin entered the room, he had not spoken to him and had not looked up at him either.

"Woojin…"

He still didn't react. Jeongin just sat down next to him, on the ground, only a few inches separating their knees. He took one of the t-shirts close to him, folded and put in the suitcase at the same place as the others.

"Jeongin…" finally said Woojin without moving up his gaze from his work.

Jeongin startled, surprised by the broken silence.

"I don't really want you going back to your parents' house. I know you're afraid for Chan but... have you thought about the fear that he feels for you? He llikes you very much and he blames himself for not having noticed earlier the distress in which you were... He doesn't want you to go back there because he's afraid he'll never see you again... and so am I."

"But Woojin... I can't…"

"Listen, come with us and if you don't feel better about all of this, I'll take you straight home. Give us a week to convince you to stay with us, if at the end of this week you don't feel better, then you can go home."  
"You promise?"

Woojin nodded and presented him his pinkie. Jeongin wraps his around and smiles faintly at the oldest, finding the idea tempting but still remaining concerned about this situation. Woojin put a hand in the youngest's hair and then gave him a quick hug before folding clothes again.

He smiles tenderly: "Have faith, Innie. Everything's going to be fine."

Jeongin doubted it but said nothing, preferring that Woojin's smile stay on his face longer.

When Chan returned, the two suitcases were in the living room; Chan's clothes and other things in one and the clothes of Woojin and Jeongin in the other. As soon as the blond walked through the front door, he rushed towards the other two boys sitting on the couch. He gave them each a hug, relieved to see them safe and sound.

"I warned the others that we were leaving now, Hyunjin and Seungmin are waiting for us, Minho will take Felix, Changbin and Jisung with him," he announced, grabbing the suitcases, probably to put them in his car.

Woojin got up from the couch, put his hand on the blond's to put down the suitcase and pulled him gently towards the sofa.

"We have to talk about something important," he said.

Chan seemed confused. He didn't see what could be so important. He did not like the pain in Woojin's gaze, nor his hands, which caressed his hands far too softly to be merely an affectionate gesture.

"Jeongin and I had a discussion... We agreed that Jeongin could return to his parents in a week if he wished and…"  
"What?! What for?! Jeongin, you can't…"  
"Chan," Woojin said in a blunt tone, "I promised Jeongin that he would not be held back."  
"But Woojin..."

Chan stopped talking by himself when the older one turned to Jeongin. He asked him to go to one of the rooms, the two elderly having to talk in private. Jeongin obeyed wisely and moved into Chan's room. He did, however, let the door ajar to listen to what they were saying to each other.

First there were panicked whispers and then Jeongin recognized Woojin's quieter voice, which seemed to try to reason and calm Chan. This one was a little more agitated then there was silence.

Jeongin was annoyed at not understanding anything but more curious about the reason for the silence. He took off from the wall on which he was leaning and discreetly approached the door to take a look in the living room.

He felt violently blush at what he saw. He parted away from the door as if it were on fire and sat in panic on the bed.

Chan and Woojin were kissing.

"Jeongin?" he startled, his heart pounding so powerfully that he felt like it was ready to escape from his ribcage. Chan had opened the door with his face neutral as if he did not have his tongue in his roommate's mouth two seconds earlier. "Let's go. Are you ready?"

Unable to speak, the youngest nodded quickly before suddenly getting up from bed to pass by the blond and drag one of the suitcases towards the exit.

Oh my god... He could never forget what he saw! He was as traumatized as if it had been his parents!

He sat in the back of Chan's car after putting the suitcase in the trunk and watched the building that had been his shelter for a few days become smaller as the car moved away.

"The holidays are starting!" cried Chan with joy.

Hoping they lasted, Thought Jeongin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I apologize for my delay, something rather stupid has happened to me. My lamp couldn't stand the light bulb I put in it and it caused a disjunct. But I didn't realize it! So when I wanted to put my computer to load to translate into English and post this chapter, I thought the charger was dead! My mother came home that evening (all this happened at 4am) and immediately understood what the problem was. Anyway! The charger is not broken, here is the chapter, everything is okay!
> 
> I hope you liked it and feel free to pass say hello on twitter (@chatsouriant) !
> 
> P.-S : I'll try to post another chapter before next Friday but i don't promise anything !
> 
> Love <3


	7. Moya

The first time Chan's car stopped was in front of Seungmin's house. He and Hyunjin sat on the porch, a sports bag each placed next to them and an expression of boredom on their faces. Boredom that disappeared when they saw Chan get out of the vehicle. He beckoned them to approach the vehicle and gave them a quick hug before putting the bags in the trunk. When Hyunjin opened the back door and saw Jeongin, he jumped on him to give him a hug. Seungmin seemed surprised to see him there.

"Jeongin?!" He exclaimed as he passed over Hyunjin to join the youngest "I thought you had been kidnapped! Oh my God!" He hugged him, letting a sigh of relief cross his lips.

Jeongin strangely wanted to cry, surrounded by his friend's arms. They had not seen each other for too long to his liking. If Hyunjin was a sign of comfort, Seungmin was a pillar in his life, someone who prevented him from falling; he was rational, calm and intelligent, he knew how to talk to Jeongin, calm him down and advise him.

Perhaps he would have made better decisions if the older of the two had been there?

"I'm fine Minnie."  
"But the kidnapper?!  
"There isn't one."

Seungmin looked lost but did not insist, sitting next to Hyunjin at the other end of the vehicle. Jeongin found that their contact did not last long enough but did not complain, realizing the other teenager's disturbance.

Chan started the car again and they joined Minho, Jisung, Felix and Changbin at a gas station. 

"Put this on." Woojin said, handing him a hoodie.

Jeongin quickly took it and passed the hood over his head. He didn't want anyone to recognize him and signal him to the police and certainly not with whom he was. Once he was sure he was well covered, he opened his door and exited the vehicle. The other boys were gathered in a circle as usual; except that they did not smile as usual, Changbin seemed to shout at Minho and Hyunjin while Jisung and Felix stood apart, completely overwhelmed by what was happening in front of them. Chan, Woojin and Seungmin tried to calm Changbin down, to no avail.

"We can't go on holiday while Jeongin is somewhere, alone with a stranger! We should be looking for him, handing out leaflets..." He shook his head from right to left, looking both angry and upset. "We should..." his voice broke. "We should do something for him."

He rubbed his wet eyes, chasing away tears of rage and frustration. Then he pushed the reassuring hands of his friends and shoved Minho who said nothing, heading without realizing it to Jeongin's direction. He was going to call him when he shoved him, failing to bring them both down. Changbin just grabbed Jeongin by the sleeve of his sweatshirt and stabilized him.

"Sorry, man, I didn't saw y..." he paused when their eyes crossed. "Jeongin?"

Changbin put a hand on the younger man's hood to reveal his face correctly in the light, but Jeongin prevented him from doing so.

"Changbin... Sorry to have worried you like that, I should have called you or..."

Changbin silenced him by squeezing him against him. All his previously tense muscles suddenly relaxed and he smiled. He was so scared for the youngest. He thought he had been kidnapped as the news said, and he blamed himself. He had reproached himself for not having accompanied the youngest home that day, for not being more worried than that when he had realized that he had not come to class for three days; he had been careless and if anything bad had happened to Jeongin, he would have resented it all his life.

"Don't you have anything broken? Are you hungry? We should call your parents or the police station... Let's go into the shop!" He started to pull him. "Your kidnapper... Maybe he's looking for you, we have to be careful."

Jeongin tried to wrestle with Changbin's grip on his sleeve a few seconds before opting for another tactic. He dropped to the ground, almost training with him the oldest. This had the desired effect; Changbin stopped walking.

"I wasn't kidnapped, it's a misunderstanding..." he turned to all his friends who were watching the scene, mostly shocked to see him present. "And I owe you all an explanation."

A quarter of an hour later, Woojin and Minho left the gas station shop, their arms laden with sandwiches and cold drinks for everyone. They laid it all down on the table to which all the other boys sat, and then sat down too.

They were all facing the end of the table where Chan and Jeongin were. They listened attentively to what they were saying, reacting only when they learned what Jeongin was going through on a daily basis. Jeongin did not tell them everything he had been through, just enough for them to grasp the magnitude of the situation. He was somehow ashamed of what he had allowed his parents to do to him.

He struggled to cope with their upset looks and soon suggested that they take the road to the beach.

He threw away the wrapper of his sandwich and the bottle he had emptied and then warned that he was going to the toilet. When he came out, he almost screamed, surprised to find someone behind the door.

"Ah... I'm sorry," Seungmin said, playing with the tip of his shirt. He seemed particularly tormented and Jeongin didn't like it.  
"It doesn't matter."  
"I wanted to know... Why didn't you tell me? I could have... Help you? Or at least be there for you. I feel like I've been blind all these years..."

He shook his arms against his bust, avoiding the gaze of the youngest. Jeongin approached Seungmin and forced him to give him his hand. He took it in both of his hands, creating a cocoon of reassuring warmth around it.

"You couldn't have done anything..." he said, "Neither Chan nor Woojin managed to help me... Nothing could have been done."  
"But…"  
"We couldn't have done anything."

He smiled to reassure his friend, but he could not get rid of the sadness that enveloped him. Seungmin gave him a hug. Encircling his arms and hugging him as much as possible without hurting him. Jeongin almost start crying.

"Let's get back to the car."

Chan and Jeongin exchanged glances when they settled into the vehicle, but Jeongin refused to tell him anything. He did not want him to know how bad and helpless Seungmin (and probably all the other boys) felt; he knew that having more or less revealed what had happened would bring a heavy atmosphere to the group and only Chan could lift everyone's spirits and for that it was necessary to avoid the latter being unhappy.

"Are you all tied up?" the blond asked as he started the car. A general "yes" answered him and he beckoned Minho to follow him.

Very quickly, they left the departmental roads to go on the national one.

After a quarter of an hour, Woojin turned to the three youngest seated in the back and smiled at them, placing his hand on Jeongin's knee, who was now sitting in the middle.

"We're going to be here for a while, so you better get some sleep."

Seungmin put his head on the window and Hyunjin guided Jeongin's head to put it on his shoulder. Jeongin asked him if he did not intend to rest and Hyunjin showed him the novel he had on his lap.

"' _La Maison Tellier_ '? Do we have a homework on it when we get back to school?"  
"No, but my mother gave it to me a while ago and I thought it was an opportunity to read it."

Hyunjin liked to read. Jeongin could not remember a memory of him without a book at his fingertips. Her mother being a writer, she had gave to him her love of book; the stories, the characters, the scent of the freshly ink-stained pages and the one of the pages aged and yellowed by time... Jeongin loved the way his face and eyes lit up when he had a new novel in his hands. Jeongin had joined the literature club because Hyunjin was attended it; because he liked to see him happy.

He smiled tenderly as he caressed the cover of the book, doing the same with the hand of the oldest by accident. He did not notice his friend's ears turning red at the contact.

"I can't wait for you to tell me about it... Have a good read, Hyunjinnie."

He closed his eyes when he felt a hand passed through his hair.

"Sleep well, Jeonginnie."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I. Am. Late. I'm sorry about that ! I dont even have a good reason, I just didn't reserved enough time to write.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you like this chapter ! In the next one, the boys discover a beautiful place, things get a little bit emotional and the Yang parents make a comeback !
> 
> See you soon <3
> 
> -LFAC12


	8. Shoot Me

The car only slowed down once they enter a narrow, rocky path. The passengers and the driver were swung from right to left despite the vehicle's good shock absorbers, awakening the three youngest seated in the back. It was just beginning to dark, the sky filled with pink-orange shades pulling towards purple, and the last rays struggling to cross the increasingly dense vegetation.

Jeongin opened an eye when he hit Hyunjin's shoulder a little too violently because of a jolt. He had fallen asleep during his reading, the book still open on his lap but his glasses placed crookedly on his nose. He was also awake, but his puffy face was a good sign of the many hours of sleep he had enjoyed.

"Where are we?" asked Jeongin, standing up. He felt a hand go through his hair and knew it was Seungmin.

Woojin at the front turned and smile at them (the same good old sweet smile he made on any occasion, the one who was not completely sincere but always polite).

"You're awake. We're on our way to the beach."

Hyunjin frowned. "In the woods?" he says unsuspectingly, simply confused.

"You'll understand when we get there." Chan seemed amused in the rearview mirror.

The trees suddenly seemed to be fewer and fewer and even though the sun continued to set, there was more brightness. Finally, the narrow path stopped and gave way to a large field where a two-storey house was in the middle. The garden had not been maintained for a long time and the house was in an equally pitiful state but the setting was quite charming.

Chan stopped the car and went out to tell to Minho to park behind the house on a concrete slab made for this purpose; then he approached his vehicle from the house and shut down the engine.

The house was long and narrow; it was made of dark (almost purple) wood and had red tiles on its roof that shone in the sun. The shutters that protected the interior of the outside had been painted the same color as the tiles but their outline was white like the front door.

Woojin and Seungmin went out first to unload the trunk while Chan unlocked the front door. Jeongin took his own suitcase and the blond's one then rushed to his side, not reassured at the thought of being too far away from his savior in an unknown place.

He was about to go into the house when Chan came out, smiling with satisfaction.

"We just have to ventilate the pieces a little bit and we're good!" he announced, ruffling Jeongin's hair.

At the same time, Changbin, Felix, Minho and Jisung as well as Seungmin, Hyunjin and Woojin arrived; they were all clumped in the entrance, their heads turning in all directions and their eyes wide open, in awe of the house.

"Go and choose your rooms," Woojin said, and the younger ones rushed to the stairs leading to the upper floor and thus to the bedrooms; the youngest except Jeongin who stood back, looking at the older ones with doubt. His parents had always told him that it was wrong and stupid to be too... noisy and carefree.

The cries of joy of the boys accompanied by doors that are opened and then slammed filled the house so empty with life a little earlier; and despite this, it was as if the ground floor was plunged into morbid silence.

"Jeonginnie?" Chan designated the staircase with his chin. "You can go, too."

The little brunette played with his hands for a moment, his gaze passing from the blond to upstairs frantically. Woojin put his hand behind his back and gently pushed him forward.

"Jeoooongiiiiin!" shouted Jisung from one of the rooms and, as if it were the starting signal, he ran up the stairs.

Woojin waited for him to disappear at the top of the stairs before pulling his suitcase to a door at the bottom of a recess next to the staircase almost put in the shadows by it. He opened the door and turned on the light.

It was a room. Smaller than those upstairs for sure but no less comfortable. There was a large bed without sheets or pillows, a light wooden closet and a window that led to the part of the garden to which they had arrived.

Woojin left his suitcase near the closet and unlocked the window and then the shutters to let the air and the last rays of the sun enter. He leaned on the ledge and looked out; if he concentrated enough, he could see the sea through the few trees. He sighed when the ray that gently warmed his face disappeared because of the vegetation.

"It's been a long time since we've been here," he remarked to Chan when the blond joined him after he had put his suitcase next to his.  
"We had a lot of fun, didn't we?" The blond put his head on the shoulder of the brown. "Would you like to take a night bath?" he added amused.  
"Maybe."

Woojin broke away from the window, gave Chan a playful look and then dropped on to the mattress. Chan joins him trying to climb on him but the older one pushed him away, causing him to fall on his back right next to him. He took his hand and stood for a moment watching the ceiling.

"You think Jeongin didn't go with the others right away because of his parents?"  
"I always thought he was acting with caution because of his shyness or something like that but now... Whenever he restricts himself or acts differently from others, I wonder if it is because of... of what he went through."  
"I don't like to see him like that." Woojin sighed and then rolled onto his side to face the other boy. "He is so... Different from the others. He doesn't run everywhere, he doesn't laugh loudly, he doesn't even let himself yell and... He has never acted like a child his age."

Woojin had whispered the last part as if he had just realized. Jeongin was only a child and yet he acted so compound, like what is expected of an adult. He could say or do immature things --no, things his age, but it was always in the absence of his parents. When they were there, Woojin felt like Jeongin was turning into a robot. He had once seen him make his splendid smile disappear so quickly when his parents had arrived, but he had not suspected anything; he just thought they had argued (and maybe it was worse, after reflection).

"This is his chance to do it now. To act like he is in reality."

Chan rubbed his arm. Woojin smiled a little.

"Do you think so?  
" Yeah. Plus we're here to help him. We've got two weeks."

The pleasant atmosphere suddenly changed when Woojin frowned. He stood up, sitting himself, keeping his eyes down towards his hands.

"I forgot that."

*

Jeongin didn't understand anything. He had climbed up the stairs, advanced down the empty hallway, and then got grabbed and taken to one of the rooms. He had been pushed onto a bed large enough to comfortably hold three people and then someone had layed down next to him. And another person did the same on the other side.

"Sleep with us, Innie!"

Hyunjin stood up, leaning on his elbows to look at Jeongin with malice. Seungmin merely tightened the chest of the youngest to convince him to accept. He doesn't know what his two friends might have been thinking, but he made his decision long before he got here.

"OK." he said, his voice trembling with excitement and his face warmed by the pleasure.

If the bed was gigantic, it was not the case of the closet that struggled to contain the clothes of the three boys. They stood before it with their arms dangling, staring at it with spite. Eventually they putted in only a part of their clothes and left the rest in the suitcases they slipped under the bed.

"We don't have sheets..." Seungmin remarked, "I'm going to ask Woojin where to find them!"

He left the room quickly, descending the stairs with his usual indelicateness. He jumped off the last step and landed stable on his feet. No one had turned on the lights of the entrance, the living room or the kitchen and the sun now set, Seungmin found himself plunged into darkness.

"Woojin?" he called softly, unsure because of the darkness.

He turned his head to the left and then to the right and it was at this moment that he noticed the low light coming from the recess next to the staircase. He approached slowly, thinking that this was the only place where his brother could be. The door was not closed but ajar and he would have knocked without question if he had not recognized Chan's voice.

"Everything's going to be fine."  
"But... What if you get arrested?"  
"It won't happen."  
"Why are you so sure of yourself? Is everything... worth putting yourself in danger?"  
"Jeongin can't go back there, you've forgotten that too."

From what Seungmin could see, Chan now looked upset. Woojin passed an arm over his shoulders but the blond did not seem more relaxed.

"Don't get angry. Sorry. I want Jeongin to be free just as much as you do, but... I'm afraid for you and... What do I do if you end up in prison, um?"

Chan collated Woojin, pushing him gently on the mattress, and once he was fully lying down, the blond huddled against him, laying multiple kisses-butterflies all over his face.

Seungmin broke away from the door, blushing violently. He felt as if he had witnessed a situation far too intimate between his brother and his... best friend?

Chan was not Woojin's best friend.

He stepped back a few steps. With his eyes fixed on the door, he realized: _My own brother did not tell me that he was dating anyone. He didn't tell me he's dating Chan. He doesn't trust me._

He turned around to go upstairs but realized that he could not go up without sheets or his friends would suspect something.

"Woojin!" he yelled, then counted to ten and proceeded gently towards the only room on the ground floor lit. He knocked at the door and this time counted five seconds before opening. "Ah here you are! We need sheets."

Woojin was no longer lying on the bed and Chan was now standing opposite as if Woojin was made of fire; they both looked like deer caught in two fires and Seungmin would have laughed if the venom of betrayal did not run through his body.

His older brother frantically nodded and bypassed the bed to join him and accompany him upstairs. Although he found it strange that Seungmin was so distant and silent, he did not point it out.

*

"The seeeeeaaaaa!" yelled Jisung before bursting into laughter when Minho grabbed him by the waist to lift him. They abandoned their belongings in the sand and rushed to the salt water to dive in.

"Wet your neck before!" shouted Woojin in their direction, but the two boys did not pay attention. "They're not possible these two..."

Jeongin laid his towel flat on the sand, daring not to look up at the blue expanse. He was so happy just by having his feet sunk in the sand, he feared that his heart would explode if he became aware of the sea.

"Innie, come with me!" said Seungmin, grabbing his hand.  
"Ah... I'm coming."  
"Quick!"

The sun was high in the sky, warming the earth with an imposing heat. And they would probably never have left the pleasant freshness of the house if it had not been for the promise of fresh sea water.

Jeongin had a bit of a headache and he knew he had to take a bath to fix it ; cooling down his body.

"Put some cream, Innie," Chan says, placing his hands full of sunscreen on the younger boy's face before starting to spread it out. Jeongin let himself be, thinking that Chan would be content to do only his face, but that was not the case. The blond forced him to turn to do his back and Jeongin found himself facing the sea.

His heart beat so hard in his chest that he put a hand on it to prevent it to escape. There she was, the sea, sparkling under the rays of the sun, both wild and calm.

"It's the sea..." he murmured. He saw Hyunjin leave the water and run awkwardly because of the sand below his feet. He was all smiles and even though his soaked hair dreaded his back and shoulders, seeing practically nothing because of his bang; he stared at Jeongin with bright eyes. 

"Come take a bathe!" he almost moans, pulling Jeongin by the hand.

As soon as Chan released him, ike when the door opened and the racehorse darted, Jeongin sprinted into the water with Hyunjin.

The laughter that crossed his lips at that moment was so powerful, so honest that he was sure he could not give it up.

*

"Bon appetite!"

Felix and Changbin laid dishes just out of the fire on the large kitchen table under the gaze of their hungry friends. Although the tteokbokki sauce was still bubbling, they began to serve themselves.

You'd think Felix was a little too overexcited and Changbin was a little too clumsy to not have a hard time cooking but they were actually good at it. They liked to cook because it soothed one and the other liked the idea of cooking as an exact science.

"It looks delicious!" says Jeongin, stuffing a rice cake into his mouth. He regretted as soon as the sauce covered all sides of his mouth and it felt like a volcano had exploded in his mouth. His ears whistled, his eyes began to weep and his nose to sink.

To his right, Jisung rushed to the jug of water to serve himself a glass which he emptied almost immediately. "What did you put in there?!"  
"We followed the recipe. It's not our fault you're hyper sensitive," Changbin said, taking a bite in his plat and although he remained neutral, they could all see the tears forming in the corner of his eyes.

Eventually, they all decided to prepare something else. Unfortunately, they had nothing in the cupboards but breakfast food. Chan and Woojin, who had planned to do the shopping when they arrived the day before, had completely forgotten to do so and had fallen asleep the bed barely made (and if several people in the house saw them, they did not say anything).

"We're going to do some groceries, who wants to come?" announced Chan, getting up. Woojin imitated him but did not wait for the younger ones to answer to go into the entrance with his bag, a bag for groceries and the key of Chan's car.

Jeongin wondered only briefly whether he should go with the two older men, but Chan's firm hand on his shoulder, which prevented him from getting up, made him understand that the invitation did not concern him. And it is Seungmin who ends up standing in his place.

"I'm coming," he says with determination. He left the table, ran up the stairs practically, and descended less than a minute later with a cap, a pair of sunglasses and shorts longer than his swim shorts. "Let's go."

They left.

Jeongin stared at the front door with sadness. He didn't like to feel like he had been abandoned by the elders when they were just gone shopping.

 _But why doesn't Chan want me to come?_ He thought while pouting. _Did I do something wrong?_

He could not continue to think about it as Hyunjin caught his attention. He gently took his hand as he was used to and helped him to get up.

"Come see what I found," he murmured, close to his ear; so close that Jeongin began to blush.

They ran up the stairs, Hyunjin giggling with impatience, and stopped only at the end of the corridor, facing a dark red door like the roof tiles.

"I thought this door was definitely locked but I found the key in our bedside table." He lowered the doorknob and opened the door wide to bring in Jeongin.

The room was small but so pretty. There was a circular window in front of which were hung red curtains almost transparent, the usual parquet floor was covered with a green and golden floral carpet; near the window there was a green bench with engraved wood and a little closer to the two boys, was a small table with two stools. And there were books. Hundreds of books.

"Wow." Jeongin stepped forward, scouring the bookshelves with his hand. "It's crazy.  
"I know!" laughs Hyunjin. "Look at it!"

The window offered a view of the ever-sparkling sea.

"I had the room ventilated all morning."  
"That's why we don't suffocate because of the dust…"  
"Let's stay here for a while, please?" Asked the tallest while taking Jeongin in his arms. He left himself huged, far too happy to be there. His heart was pounding in his chest but it was so different from when his parents beat him; it was happiness that put him in this state, not fear. He could get used to it.

"Read for me? Please?"  
"Of course."

*

Chan, Seungmin and Woojin looked really like holidaymakers with their sunglasses, shorts and sandals. At such a point that an old man who sold objects made of wood in front of the entrance of the supermarket wished them a good holiday.

Seungmin would have been very happy to spend time with his brother, whom he saw less and less often, if what he had seen last night had not upset him so much. He watched the two older men walk in front of him, glued to each other too much to his liking. He didn't like seeing them together. It wasn't fair.

Everyone was enjoying Woojin, spending time with him, chatting, laughing, having fun. But he... He was always alone. His own brother couldn't spend as much time with him as the others.

Seungmin was not blind, he had noticed how Woojin stayed with either Chan or Jeongin. That he was not close to others was understandable since he did not know them as well, but Seungmin was there. He was there but Woojin was never spend time with him.

Did Jeongin know about Woojin and Chan? No... The two probably wanted to kept their relationship secret and hadn't told anyone. Woojin would eventually tell him and he would be the first one to know.

"Minnie?"  
"Yes?"

Woojin was leaning over a freezer full of ice cream. Seungmin was too happy for his older brother to call him by his nickname. He trotted to him like a happy puppy.

"What's your favorite ice cream?"  
"I can choose?"  
"Of course."

Woojin patted his shoulder with a smile and all of Seungmin's negative thoughts flew away. Woojin was finally interested in him.

An hour and three bags full of groceries later, the three holidaymakers crossed the parking lot of the small shopping center to reach the car. While Woojin and Seungmin chatted leaning against the vehicle, Chan put the bags in the trunk.

None of them noticed Mr. Yang's blue car stopping a few parking slots away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi,  
> I hope you are all doing well. I'm sorry because i didn't post last week. I hope this long chapter will satisfy you.  
> Also, I would like to know what you think of my story and my writting, I would like to know what I need to improve ; so let some comments please <3
> 
> See you next Friday <3


	9. Free extract because I'm late on the translation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm sorry for my disappearance, I was on an island without Wi-Fi last weekend and I started writing a long chapter during that time, unfortunately I didn't finish in time for this Friday because school will start again soon for me and I need to do a lot of school relative stuff before. I'll just post an extract today, but you'll be able to find more snippets in the future on my twitter account (@chatsouriant).  
> Also, when school starts again, it will be quite difficult for me to post once a week because of my scheduled and tons of homework they give. but! I will try to do my best: book a specific time to write each week!
> 
> Now that it's said, good read!

**Please read the chapter note before !**

9\. _Don't Be Shy_

The office that Hyunjin had found was a really nice place. Jeongin liked the idea that it was kind of their secret room; it had been two days since Hyunjin had shown him this room and until then, no one knew except them it was accessible.

They could stay there for hours, Hyunjin reading while Jeongin, sitting on his thighs, listened to the story told to him, with his eyes closed, drowsy.  
He loved the calm, deep voice Hyunjin used to read, and he also loved Hyunjin's free hand, which was wandering around in his hair or on his skin. He loved the calm and intimacy they could enjoy when they were just the two of them in this room.

"The end." Hyunjin said softly, closing the book he was reading. He put the book on the bench and then removed his glasses to fix Jeongin. "Did you like it?"  
"A lot."

The sun's rays coming in through the small round window landed on Hyunjin's face. He looked like an angel like that; his eyes brightened, his hair going down his neck lightened and the caramel color of his skin accentuated.

Jeongin's cheeks warmed and he looked away quickly, not liking the way his heart was racing at the sight of his best friend. He couldn't fall in love. Not with Hyunjin. It was not good. It was not normal. Not according to his parents.

He would always remember the state of his child's body when, at the age of seven, he whispered to his mother in the tone of confidence that the new boy at school was pretty. He would always remember her harsh words and nails cutting off his skin, sinking into his tender flesh. He would always remember his dark eyes and his pinched lips; the way she had --

"Seungmin wanted us to go for a walk in the woods, would you like to come?"  
"No... i…"  
"You look sick."

Hyunjin approached a hand from Jeongin's face, but Jeongin avoided him by getting up from the bench.

"I'm not feeling well, I think I'm going to… I should go back in bed."

Jeongin walked calmly towards the door despite his inner panic. What was he doing?! Why being so close to Hyunjin become such a troment?! It wasn't fair! He did not want things to be like that between them; they were meant to stay close to each other. Jeongin could not imagine his life without Hyunjin and now he found himself running away from him.

"See you later..." he said without turning around. He did not see Hyunjin's confusion or the pain that replaced it.  
"Rest well, Innie." Hyunjin says pitifully before the door closes behind his best friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope we'll see each other soon !
> 
> And don't forget : comments and kudos are really appreciated <3


	10. Don't Be Shy

The office that Hyunjin had found was a really nice place. Jeongin liked the idea that it was kind of their secret room; it had been two days since Hyunjin had shown him this room and until then, no one knew except them it was accessible.

They could stay there for hours, Hyunjin reading while Jeongin, sitting on his thighs, listened to the story told to him, with his eyes closed, drowsy.  
He loved the calm, deep voice Hyunjin used to read, and he also loved Hyunjin's free hand, which was wandering around in his hair or on his skin. He loved the calm and intimacy they could enjoy when they were just the two of them in this room.

"The end." Hyunjin said softly, closing the book he was reading. He put the book on the bench and then removed his glasses to fix Jeongin. "Did you like it?"  
"A lot."

The sun's rays coming in through the small round window landed on Hyunjin's face. He looked like an angel like that; his eyes brightened, his hair going down his neck lightened and the caramel color of his skin accentuated.

Jeongin's cheeks warmed and he looked away quickly, not liking the way his heart was racing at the sight of his best friend. He couldn't fall in love. Not with Hyunjin. It was not good. It was not normal. Not according to his parents.

He would always remember the state of his child's body when, at the age of seven, he whispered to his mother in the tone of confidence that the new boy at school was pretty. He would always remember her harsh words and nails cutting off his skin, sinking into his tender flesh. He would always remember his dark eyes and his pinched lips; the way she had --

"Seungmin wanted us to go for a walk in the woods, would you like to come?"  
"No... I…"  
"You look sick."

Hyunjin approached a hand from Jeongin's face, but Jeongin avoided him by getting up from the bench.

"I'm not feeling well, I think I'm going to… I should go back in bed."

Jeongin walked calmly towards the door despite his inner panic. What was he doing?! Why being so close to Hyunjin become such a torment?! It wasn't fair! He did not want things to be like that between them; they were meant to stay close to each other. Jeongin could not imagine his life without Hyunjin and now he found himself running away from him.

"See you later..." he said without turning around. He did not see Hyunjin's confusion or the pain that replaced it.  
"Rest well, Innie." Hyunjin says pitifully before the door closes behind his best friend.

*  
Jeongin sneaked under the sheets next to Seungmin. It was still early in the morning and despite the already piercing rays of sunshine, it was still cold. The body warmth of Seungmin, which landed on Jeongin's skin softly, made him sigh with ease. He put his head on his pillow and fixed the ceiling.  
His heart was beating less violently, but he couldn't feel any better. He couldn't stop thinking about the panic he had felt a little earlier.

Someone knocked on the door then opened it slowly. Contrary to what Jeongin feared, it was not Hyunjin but Jisung. He squinted his big eyes as if it would help him see better in the dark room and then his eyes opened wide when he noticed Jeongin's head protruding from the sheets.

He came in, walking softly, he closed the door then bypassed the bed to lie near the youngest.  
He was still in his pajamas and his hair was all raised on his head leaning evenly to the right; he was certainly awake recently.

"Minho moves too much," he whispered, "Can I stay here?"  
"Yes."

There was a short silence during which Jisung moved in every direction and Jeongin knew that he had something to ask him. Jisung was tender. He was a daredevil and energetic boy but he didn't have that kind of need to look constantly strong and self-confident. Jisung was the first of their gang that Jeongin had seen crying (that was the day Minho fought against this bunch of kids in middle school, who terrorized all the students, because they had attacked Jisung once too many) and not to be ashamed of it. When that happened he didn't hide, he didn't isolate himself, he went instead to seek solace and expressing clearly his sorrow.

"Are you... Do you feel better?" he asked at last. "I didn't dare ask you earlier…"  
"I'm okay," he replied, but a small voice in his head told him otherwise. "I really like the house and we're having a good holiday, um?"  
"And... What are you going to do when you get back to school? You're not going back to your parents, are you? You can come at my house?"

Jisung's parents were angels, as kind and helpful as their son. Jisung was a clever mix of his father and mother; he had his father's round but smooth cheeks and his mother's sparkling eyes which made him incredibly adorable. Not to mention his personality, which was only a copy of his parents' one. On the rare times Jeongin had spoken with the two adults, he had been so comfortable that he had almost revealed some of his secrets to them; they had a knack for making others very comfortable.

"I'm not sure... Woojin and Chan left me until the end of the week to make a decision."  
"Between what and what?"

Jeongin observed him for a moment. Jisung didn't seem curious, just very concerned.

"Don't tell anyone, okay?"  
"I promise."  
"Either I go home to my parents or I stay with Chan and Woojin."  
"Why would you want to go back to your parents?"  
"I don't want Chan to have any problems with them. They are so... dangerous. And... The kidnapper they are talking about on TV is actually Chan."

Silence only filled by Seungmin's discreet snoring took place.

"Chan... Does he know?"  
"Yes, but... It's like he doesn't care. He told me that his parents will take care of everything once they get back from their trip but I have a bad feeling. I feel like if I don't come home…"  
"We can't leave you with your parents, Innie. You suffer when you're there. What kind of friends would we be if we let you in their hands?" Jisung passed an arm over Jeongin's bust and approached him a little more. "Stay with us, okay?"

Jeongin did not answer, but it did not seem to bother Jisung, who became more comfortable, his face in the neck of the youngest ready to go back to sleep. Jeongin, on the other hand, could not close his eyes, tormented by his discussion with Jisung.

*  
"Hey..." Muttered Changbin when he came face to face with Felix barely awake. "Sleep well?"

The redhead nodded while rubbing his face with the back of his hand. Felix was one of those people who had smooth skin and a slightly swollen face when he woke up and Changbin, his best friend, found it adorable.

Felix carried the sheet over him until there was only the top of his head visible, his eyes half-closed still fixed on Changbin.

"Do you want to go for a walk by the sea?" suggested Changbin, whispering, as if he did not want to break the peaceful atmosphere in their room (or perhaps his shyness prevented him from speaking louder).  
"Piquenique?" asked Felix, his voice deeper because of his previously sleeping state.

Changbin stood up and nodded positively. He already had it all planned out. The day before, he had rummaged through the kitchen cupboards to list what they might take with them; he had chosen a tablecloth so that they could sit down and had recharge his speakers.

He had a plan.

He had known Felix for almost fourteen years and he had realized his feelings for him almost a year ago. He didn't know if Felix liked him or if he was just more affectionate with him because he was more comfortable but Changbin had to try his luck. Felix... Felix was clumsy, noisy, sometimes rude (like any teenager his age) and annoying when ever he want but he was perfect for Changbin. He had never got along with anyone as good as with Felix. He was sometimes found intimidating because of his particularly severe default face, but Changbin was tender and Felix had never been intimidated by his fierce air becoming the first of the band to speak to him and the first (and almost the only one ) to show him so much affection. How could Changbin not fall in love with this ray of sunshine?

Felix stood up, passing a hand through his hair. He fixed the void for a few seconds and then got up to get ready.

"We should ask Jeongin to come with us," he said, searching in the closet for clothes.

What? Er... No. No, no, no, no, no. Jeongin couldn't come. Changbin couldn't declare his love for Felix otherwise!

"I haven't really talked to him yet. I'd like to know how he's going... I want him to understand that he can come to me (or even you) if there is anything. My parents are so... not like his. I have no idea what he had gone throught, but I want to be there for him now. You understand?"  
"Yes, perfectly. We will ask him to come with us when he wakes up." resigned Changbin, consoling himself, thinking that it was for the good cause, for his bro Jeongin.

Felix chose a top and began to put it on under Changbin's neutral gaze. He suddenly stopped halfway, a mocking smile emerging on his lips. 

"We appreciate the view?" he laughed, and Changbin, outraged, got up from the bed to pursue his best friend, seeking revenge.

*  
Chan was the kind of person who had trouble sleeping, but when he did, he didn't wake up for a long time. So Woojin, accustomed to it, always left him in bed as long as possible. He would get up discreetly, leave their room (because know that even when they were at home, they often slept in one room) and would prepare breakfast for both of them (and then for the others if they would wake up while he was cooking).

Like every morning since they arrived at the holiday home, Woojin enjoyed his coffee by watching the outside through the window in front of the kitchen sink, enjoying the calm of the house still asleep.

He did not look away from the bird he was observing when he recognized the heavy and assured steps that resonated in the kitchen. He looked away only when Chan leaned on the edge of the doormat with a seductive air despite his still-asleep look.

"Hi beauty, you come here often?" he says, passing a hand through his hair and winking.

Woojin looked up at the sky but keep smiling.

"I'm not interested," he replied, and Chan pouted. Pout that Woojin hurried to make disappear by depositing a chaste kiss on his lips. "I already have someone wonderful in my life."

Chan seemed caught off guard and hid the redness of his cheeks by taking Woojin's cup and drinking the coffee (and although Woojin could clearly see him grimacing to the bitter taste of the drink, he said nothing).

"What are you planning to do today?"  
"Aunt Pilsook asked me to fix a few things in the house, I think that's what I'm going to do."  
"You wouldn't need help, by any chance?"

Chan laughed a little and nodded. He was about to kiss Woojin when they heard several people coming down the stairs quickly; they parted, looking in every possible direction but never in the other's one. Minho, Felix and Changbin came into the kitchen... And if the two youngest, too busy bickering nicely, did not notice their tense postures, it was not the case of Minho who fixed Chan in the eyes for a long time.

If anyone was likely, according to Chan, to know what was going on between them, it was Minho. So the way he had taken the time to study the two older ones frightened the blond.

Their relationship was supposed to be kept secret. No one should known what was going on between them; they were risking too big. Woojin had already suffered a first time because of this and Chan refused to let it happen again. Woojin didn't deserve to suffer again. He had regained his bright smile and warm laughter only a few months ago; Chan couldn't bear to see him constently sad again.

"Hey..." he said to the three boys, his voice slightly stuck in his throat, "Slept well?"  
"I dreamt that Changbin was wearing nothing but pink, hyung!" exclaimed Felix as his best friend tried to silence him by clumsily placating his hands on his mouth.

Minho slowly approached Woojin, ignoring Chan's question and opened the refrigerator to take a yogurt. He straightened up, but instead of going to the other side of the kitchen to take a spoon, he stopped in front of the older one.

"Oh, why are your cheeks so red, Woojin? Are you OK?" he was falsely concerned, Chan could see it. Woojin, caught off guard, remained very calm.  
"I was hot because of my sweater," he said, pointing to a chair on which he had forgotten his sweater the night before. "I took it off just now."

Minho nodded, clearly dissatisfied, and then went to sit down. He was going to look at Chan when Felix asked for his attention and the blond was finally able to breathe properly again.

"I'll take care of the repairs," he murmured, placing his cup still full in the sink. He left the room quickly to gather his equipment. Once this was done, he went down the hallway leading to the room he shared with Woojin to repair a plank that protruded from the floor.

He had to find a way to erase all suspicions in Minho. He had to protect Woojin. He had to protect Jeongin, too. He didn't have time to relax. Maybe he would do it once he would settle things with Minho... But for now, he had to be on his guard.

"Hey..." Woojin said as he sat next to him on the ground, next to the plank. "You look concerned. What are you thinking?"  
"Jeongin," he lied. He didn't want Woojin to worry, he was already doing it enough on a daily basis.

Woojin stood silent for a while, leaving Chan to pick up a good nail in a bag quietly and get ready to nail the plank.

"Are you really willing to risk everything for him?" asked Woojin softly, bringing his legs against his bust. Chan raised an interrogative glance at him.  
"Why are you talking about Jeongin as if he were a stranger?"  
"Because even though I appreciate him, he is not my friend, Chan. I barely know him and see you so much... involved in all of this, worries me. I don't want you risking to go to jail again."

Chan looked away to the floor, picked up the nail he had dropped and positioned it correctly on the plank, struck its head several times with a hammer. Although Woojin watched him do it, he couldn't help but startle when the sound of the shock reverberated against the narrow walls.

"I'm not going to jail," the blonde finally replied. Woojin sighed.

"You're so..." He got up and put a hand in his hair. He felt like crying. The idea of Chan eventually going to prison devastated him. Wasn't Chan aware of that? Didn't he know that Woojin's life depended on his own? The words he repeated when things weren't going well, the assurances... Didn't he mean what he said? "You're so carefree. Do you really think things are that simple or are you just lying to yourself?"  
"Woojin…"  
"Open your eyes, for God's sake. Jeongin is a time bomb. It's going to blow up in our faces and…"  
"Look, if we get caught, I'll immediatly put all the blame on me. I would say that none of you knew what was really going on."  
"You really don't understand anything. Didn't you listen to me or what? I don't want anything to happen to you! To you! You're... You're really stupid!"

Chan, still crouching, tried to grab his hand, but Woojin rejected him. The brownhead gave him one last look filled with tears before taking refuge in their room. He had looked at Chan with so much anger and helplessness, but Chan he had only been able to see the tears and his devastated expression.

Chan sighed. Woojin didn't understand. He did not understand how determined Chan was to help Jeongin; he did not know what it meant to him. He did not know that Chan was determined not to make the same mistake twice. He would not abandon anyone yet.

He grabbed another nail and shot the hammer on it much more than necessary. He would not hear Woojin's crying like that.

Woojin hated the fact that Chan could so easily accept to sacrifice himself. It's as if he wasn't aware of the situation... or that he had nothing to do with his actual life; of their lives together. He was willing to sacrifice what he and Woojin had built together with such difficulty.

Was Yang Jeongin more important than Kim Woojin to Bang Chan?

Woojin wiped his eyes with the tip of his sleeve and lay down on his back, his head facing the window, staring into the void.

Ah... Things really hadn't always been easy between them…

Woojin was used to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I. am. alive !  
> I had a really sh*tty week, I had so much homeworks and tests that I couldn't find a time to write on my laptop (I could only do it during literature class :') ) ! But now, that chapter is published and I feel relieved ^^ !
> 
> Next chapter is a flashback !
> 
> I hope you like reading this chapter ! Leave me some reviews so I'll be able to improve my writting <3
> 
> Bye !


	11. 행복한 척 Pretend

"Hey! You two!"

Woojin startled. He turned around. The old owner of the shop he used to go to make a few small purchases rushed towards him, red with anger. He was about to ask him why he was in this state when his hand was grabbed and he found himself running, dragged forcefully by another boy who laughed loudly despite the salesman's screams. He didn't chase them long, quickly tired. They stopped running a few streets away.

"Sorry for dragging you into this," said the boy who had forced him to run away, breathless. He had curly dark hair (albeit lighter than Woojin's) and cheeks still childish that signalled to Woojin that he must not be thirteen years old, just like him. "Thanks to you, I have a lot of candy! Here's your share."

Without letting Woojin the time to say anything, the boy slipped a big handful of candy into the pockets of his school uniform. Woojin wanted to protest, not liking the idea of having contributed to a robbery but the boy interrupted him.

"My name is Christopher, you?"

"Woojin."

The boy -Christopher - did not stay long with him after that, in a hurry, and Woojin get home before the sun set.

He didn't think he'd ever see that Bang Chan again. What was his surprise when he saw him again the next day.

"Children, take care of Chan and be nice with him. His Korean is not perfect so try to help him and be patient!" said his referring professor, a hand resting on Christopher's shoulder -Chan?- with a smile on his face. The students nodded and Mr. Park asked the new student to find a place.

Woojin watched with horror as he walked to his table and placed his bag in the empty chair next to him.

"Hi Woojin." he said with a strong accent -which Woojin had not noticed the day before- . Woojin had simply replied with a polite smile. He didn't think that ten years later, they'd still be together.

*

"What's wrong with him?"

"Who are you talking about?"

"The guy over there." he pointed to a boy sitting a few rows in front of them. When the said boy realized that he had been seen, he turned around, his ears red. "He keeps looking at you since this morning, I don't like it."

"Do you know him?"

"Park Mike, my father and his work in the same law firm. But I don't like how he stares at you."

Woojin shrugged, completely disinterested. Chan was the type to believe that everyone was looking at Woojin when, in fact, he was the one we were looking at; two years ago, he had started to straighten his hair, laughed out of the mockery of the other students and suddenly he fit in the Korean beauty criteria. That's why everyone was looking at him. Maybe this Park Mike wanted his phone number or something like that.

"I'll talk to him later then."

Chan did not seem to agree, but the teacher prevented him from protesting by lecturing him on his lack of attention. Woojin looked at the trees through the window, a sigh on the edge of his lips. It was only the first day of their last year in middle school and he was already missing the holidays. He was about to delve into his memories when the bell indicated the end of the history class.

He got up in a hurry, quickly tidying up his table before leaving to catch Park Mike; Chan would join him after the teacher finished lecturing him.

"Hey! Mike!" the called student turned, his neutral face changing rapidly to give way to a panicked expression.

"K-Kim Woojin?!" he exclaimed softly.

Chan was born in Australia and grew up there until he was twelve years old but apart from his hair, there was no real sign that he was a foreigner. Mike had plenty of them. He had round green eyes, caramel skin, and his mother, a black woman, always picked him up after school; his whole being shouted foreigner. It made him fascinating.

"You seemed like you wanted to ask something during class. If you're too shy to talk to Chan, I can ask him for you if you want."

"Um... N-no, that's not it."

"Do you want to eat with us?"

Mike opened his eyes wide, smothered for a moment, then closed his mouth and nodded.

"Great. We have to wait for Chan in front of the cafeteria, d'you mind?"

"N-no."

Chan had never opened his eyes as big as when he saw the two boys together. He stared at Woojin in the eyes for a long time, and Woojin immediately understood what he was trying to say to him; what's he doing here? What's going on? Should I attack him? So to prevent problems from happening, Woojin explained everything to Chan. They ate together and did not part till the evening; Mike's mother picking him up and Chan and Woojin taking the bus.

"He's nice, Mike."

"Yeah... If you say so."

Woojin observed Chan from the corner of his eye. He had looked fine all day but now he was sulking. Woojin was going to ask him what was wrong, but Chan took the lead.

"Why did you ask him to come and eat with us?"

"I think he had something to ask you. I thought that if he eat with us, he would finally dare to ask you."

"Maybe it was at you, that he wanted to ask something," Chan muttered, but Woojin did not understand and was lazy to ask him to repeat. They remained silent for the rest of the rode.

"Good night Woojin." said Chan before disappearing around the corner.

It took him a good month to finally fully accept Mike into their group of friends and act normally with him. After that, they became inseparable.

*

Woojin was watching the stars, totally sloppy on his beanbag in Mike's garden. This one and Chan were in the same position on their own beanbags. The radio broadcast a vaguely familiar 80s song.

"I can't believe tomorrow's back to school," Chan yawns, wriggling.

Starting their second year of highschool was more boring than exciting for the three boys who were already missing the holidays, the sweet memories of their days together doing everything and anything adding to their hearts.

Woojin left the stars to look at his two friends. He didn't like to see them so sloppy and sulky. He reached out and raised the sound of the radio as a pop song began. He got up and took Chan with him and then Mike.

He said, "Come on! Up! It's our last night, we should enjoy it!"

Mike's garden, lit by a few fairyligths, was filled with laughter and words more howled than sung.

When Woojin finally stopped singing deliberately false and jumping everywhere, he announced that he was thirsty and Mike offered to accompany him to the kitchen to make a stock of drinks and snacks to bring back into the garden. They ran into the house home, still full of energy despite their previous moment of madness.

"I take the snacks, the drinks are in the fridge." Mike opened several cupboards, singing, quickly loading his armes with food.

Woojin took as many fresh cans and bottles as possible, but soon, he started pouting.

"There is no grapefruit soda?" he asked, annoyed. Mike joins him and crouchs down to open the drawer at the bottom of the refrigerator (with difficultly, because of everything he already had in his arms). Two cans were pulled out. He stood up all smiles. However, he began to blush quickly when he realized how close he was to Woojin.

"Thank you," said this one with his sweet smile. "What's wrong?" he asked when he realized that Mike was completely frozen. He put a hand on his hair, worried. He was surprised to feel Mike's lips gently laid on his own.

The music diminished and the world stopped turning. Woojin closed his eyes and pressed his lips against Mike's.

"That day..." said Mike, his lips rubbing against Woojin's "I wanted to know if you wanted to go on a date with me. Thank you for inviting me to eat .with you.

"You're welcome," Woojin replied, his cheeksred and a bright smile on his face. His heart was beating too hard in his chest but he was incredibly happy.

The new year started pretty good.

*

Woojin always arrived early at school. He took the first bus to be there before anyone else. He liked to sit at his table, take out his things and write until Mike joined him. Woojin dreamed of being a writer but knew it was a difficult path and had already come to the idea that he would never become one. If he were to become one, however, he would be the happiest in the world.

"Hey..." said Mike, sitting next to him. Checking that no one was paying attention to them, he laid a kiss on Woojin's lips. "Chan hasn't arrived yet?

"He didn't wake up, he'll be a little late."

Mike disapproved as if he didn't have problems to get up five days out of seven every week. He suddenly says:

"Do you want to do something this weekend? There's a new glacier near the park."

"Why not? As long as we've finished our homework, though. Seungmin has a sporting match on Sunday and it will last all day."

"OK! We're going to plan this right with Chan when he gets here."

On cue, the history teacher entered the room, Chan on his heels. The one was breathless and red from running to the classroom, dropped himself on the chair on the other side of Woojin.

"Not too earl..." began Woojin before freezing. "Your hair..."

Chan... Chan had blond hair. That is why he did not come to his best friend's house yesterday; He was at the hairdresser's. If Chan with his naturally curly and brown hair was cute and Chan with smooth hair was beautiful, Chan with smooth and blonde hair was absolutely divine.

"Do you like it?" he said, blushing.

"It's... I love it," Woojin replied earnestly, blushing too.

None of them noticed Mike pinching his lips as he watched the scene, worried.

*

"You're with me! Not with Chan!"

Woojin looked annoyed at Mike despite his heart beating fast with surprise. His jealousy had become more and more frequent in recent months and Woojin found it absurd. The first time he blamed himself for having put his boyfriend in this state but now... he was done.

"I know that very well, Mike. Chan remains my best friend. I am very well able to share myself for you both…"

"No ! Why do you want us to spend equal time with you?! I should have more time! I'm your boyfriend!"

"Stop yelling, your parents will worry."

"Why do you think of everyone but me? Am I not good enough for you? Don't you love me anymore?"

Woojin sighed. If Mike dared to start crying, he'd leave. Too bad if him and Chan end up gutting each other when the last would arrived.

"I just don't like it when you act like that. Why do you suddenly see Chan as an enemy? You are best friends…"

"He was my best friend until he started looking at you like that."

"What are you talking about?"

"He's in love with you! It's obvious! He wants to destroy our relationship."

Mike approached Woojin and grabbed him by the shoulders. He had tears in his eyes and his lower lip trembled. He looked completely devastated and although one part of Woojin wanted to console him, the other was afraid of the ounce of madness in his eyes.

"You're mine, understand?"

Woojin did not like this speech. It wasn't anyone's. He didn't like the idea of belonging to someone, let alone Mike deciding that. He took Mike's hands off on him.

"I don't belong to anyone, Mike. I think you're tired. I'm going home."

Woojin picked up his bag, stuffed his notebooks and pencil case in it and put on his sweater. He ignored Mike's crying until he arrived at the door of the room. He turned around.

"Try to talk about your fears with Chan when he gets here, say him I'm soory, too."

He was going to close the door behind him when Mike pushed him down the hall. Woojin was about to swear when he realized how angry his boyfriend looked.

"You're cheating on me with him, aren't you?"

"What are you…"

"That's why you're like that with him. Chan here, Chan there!" he laughs, pulling his hair "How could I have been that stupid! It's always been him! You never liked me. Liar!"

He again pushed Woojin, who this time fell. He took the opportunity to tackle him under his weight and hit him without actually aiming.

"M-Mike! Stop!" Woojin was screaming, but the other boy continued to hit him. He would hit as if he were enraged, as if Woojin were not his boyfriend, the one he said he loved who was stuck under him, at his mercy. He struck until someone else hit him.

"Woojin!" yelled Chan, pushing Mike. "Oh my God..." he turned to the assailant. "You're completely sick!"

"It's all your fault!"

"My fault? You used Woojin as a punching ball because you're mad at me? What's wrong with you?"

This question seemed to annoy a little more Mike who threw himself on Chan. They fought furiously until Mike's parents intervened to separate them.

Chan took Woojin with difficulty and walked them home.

When Mrs. Bang opened the door of her house, she held back a little cry of surprise. His son and best friend, supporting each other, crying in silence.

*

"Park Mike, you are sentenced to three months of general service and you have a lifelong removal order concerning Mr. Bang Chan and Mr. Kim Woojin. The same goes for both of you gentlemen. Mr. Bang will not go to prison, you are sentenced to two months of general service too."

The judge got up and without a word more left the room. Woojin rose from his bench among the spectators and joined Chan at his table of defendants, wilfully ignoring Mike who was fulminating beside them.

Mr. and Mrs. Park had not been very happy with their son's condition after his fight with Chan and had decided to press charges, sure to win the case. Mr. and Mrs. Bang had immediately reacted and put together a solid case for their son. Nevertheless, the trial lasted three days and there was even talk at the previous session of sending Chan to prison. In the end, the judge had been lenient to Woojin's relief.

"Chan..." whispered the brown as he pressed his friend against him, "Don't ever do this for me again, okay?

"I don't promise you anything," replied the blond, passing his arms behind the brown's back. "If I had to, I'd do it again.

"No. Please promise not to do it again. Promise."

Chan didn't want to, and Woojin felt it. He could not insist because police forced them out to join their prospect family.

"You shouldn't keep seeing Bang Chan," Mrs. Kim said as soon as her son got into her car. "He'll only get you into trouble."

"He protected me. And he's my best friend, I'm not going to do that."

"Whatever you want..."

*

"Hey..." Said Chan upon entering Woojin's room. He was lying on his back on his bed, staring at the ceiling, bored. "Ready for a new year?"

"I would have been if we had not changed of school."

"You know well that M... that he was determined not to leave."

"We could have insisted. Why did you side with my parents?"

"Because..." Chan sat down on the bed beside Woojin and forced him to stand up. He took his hands in his and forced him to look him in the eye. "I don't want anything to happen to you again"

"You know very well that I didn't defend myself because I didn't want to hit him, not because I couldn't."

"He still badly hurt you. Look. It's a new school and it's going to be weird, but at least we'll be together."

"My parents hate you."

"Do you hate me?"

"Of course not!"

"Then everything is fine."

Chan smiled and Woojin began to blush. He realized that they were closer to each other than he thought and he didn't know how to handle it. Chan... Chan was his best friend, they had grown up together and never Woojin had had such a crush on someone. Chan was so kind and helpful and friendly and handsome. He understood him, took care of him, laughed at his lame jokes and always made sure that Woojin didn't feel too embarrassed when, under stress, did or said something stupid. Chan was the most important thing in his life. And Woojin was in love. So, so much in love.

Chan suddenly lay down on the bed and put himself in the same position as Woojin a little earlier.

"Woo'?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you really like him?"

"No. I think I was just happy to be with someone... Do you love someone?"

Woojin didn't want to talk about Mike, it was too early for that. And all in all, he wasn't sure he wanted to talk about Chan's love life either. He lay down next to him. From there, he could perfectly observe Chan's profile as he spoke to him.

"I've loved someone for a long time."

"Why didn't you tell them?"

"They were in a relationship and I did not want to interfere; even though I felt like I had been robbed of them. Something bad happened to them before I realized how much I love them."

"You should tell them." Woojin wanted to slap his mouth, why did he encourage Chan to find someone?!

"I've been trying to do this for a long time. It's just that... I don't know if that person is ready to start a new relationship."

"Ask them then."

Chan turned, surprised, to Woojin. They stared at each other for a moment before the blond began to smile... and then laugh. He did not stop until his cheeks took on a reddish hue and tears appeared in the corner of his eyes. He finally calmed down.

"Woojinie?"

"Yes, Channie?"

"Do you feel ready to start a new relationship?"

"W-what?"

Chan laughs softly this time. He stood up under Woojin's shocked gaze. Leaning on one hand, he put himself well above him.

"Kim Woojin, I love you."

*

Life hadn't been so exciting for Woojin in a long time. He smiled a lot, he laughed, sang, had fun... He had not felt so generally happy for a long time. He had taken the singing option in his new high school and had even reconnected with an old friend! Everything was going well for him!

"Hello, Minho? How's it going with your class?"

"People are so immature... But hey, that's the price to pay for not doing anything for a year."

"Hey, how many time will I tell you you didn't screw it up! It just wasn't your best year."

"If you say so..."

Minho was a long-time friend. His mother and Woojin's father were childhood friends and therefore decided that their children should be too; fortunately the two boys had appreciated each other otherwise things would have been more complicated! Woojin and Minho, who went to different high schools, kept contacting on social media and often chatted on KakaoTalk; everything was fine for Minho until last year. His parents had decided to divorce and then all of Minho's life, everything he had known, everything that was his daily life had been destroyed; including his results at school, hence the fact that he was redoing his first year of high school.

"See the bright side: You can spend two years with Han instead of one."

Minho scoffed in the other side of the phone.

"Han? Who's that?"

"Minho... You fought a whole gang for him. How can you think I'm going to think you don't know who I'm talking about?"

Woojin laughs while rolling on his bed. Minho had a huge crush; It was lovely.

"By the way... ah!" cried Woojin. Someone suddenly fell on him and his phone fell. He turned close to killing the person who had assaulted him, but lips were laid against his own.

"Hi Jinnie." whispered Chan against his lips.

Woojin retrieved his phone from the ground.

"Hello, Minho? Yes... I have an emergency, I have to leave you."

Without waiting for an answer, he hung up.

"My parents let you in?" he asked Chan, hugging him. He glanced at the door of his room; It was closed.

"Not really... But your window did."

Woojin laughs.

"You're incredible."

"You like it when I do that, though."

"That's right."

He smiled when Chan put a multitude of kisses on his face. They settled properly on Woojin's bed, face to face. They discussed everything and anything like every time Chan came to his house unexpectedly on the pretext that he was missing him.

Woojin was happy now. He had to change establishments, lose his friends and change his daily life but he was happy.

Because there was always Chan with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone ! Sorry for being late ^^'
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter ! That flashback was kind of necessary for understanding what is implied time to time, I even think there will be other chapters like that. In this chapter we had the opportunity to learn about one of the things that happened to Chan and Woojin but there's other things too !
> 
> See you next friday <3


	12. Double Knot

Jeongin placed the basket containing their lunch on a rock and helped Changbin to maintain the tablecloth on which they could sit on the ground with a few pebbles while Felix ran in all directions in the sand.

There was a lot of wind today and the sea was completely wild. She was almost grey as the waves rose high and came crashing violently against the sand, each of them provoking a kind of menacing echo; it was scary. And Jeongin adored her. She finally revealed her true power.

"Here we are, great,"" Changbin muttered as he dropped on the tablecloth. Jeongin put the basket in a corner and sat there too. They remained silent for a moment, Changbin staring at the cloudy sky and Jeongin watched the waves.

"Binnie! Look!" shouted Felix suddenly before doing a cartwheel. Changbin encouraged him for a moment and then stopped when the redhead decided to brave the waves.

"Jeonginnie... Have you ever been in love?"

"I don't think so. Do you love someone?"

"Yes but, I don't know if it's a good idea to tell them. I am afraid of being rejected and that we will not talk to each other anymore. I feel like... I feel like I'm helpless in front of myself. I hate not being able to suppress that feeling." he sighed and turned his head to the side so that Jeongin could not see his tears, staring at his best friend unaware of the situation.

The youngest put his hand on Changbin's shoulder and turned his gaze to Felix, who was having fun in the water.

"It's Felix, isn't it?"

Changbin made a sad laugh. "Is it that obvious?"

"You should declare yourself. Even if he doesn't respond positively, I'm sure he won't walk away from you and... it's better to tell him what's on your heart instead of letting yourself gnaw from the inside."

"You're right." Jeongin felt there was something else. Changbin soon followed up. "Doesn't it bother you that I have feelings for another boy?"

He thought of Chan and Woojin before shaking his head from right to left. He had no problem with same-sex couples (especially if his friends were concerned), he just wasn't comfortable with that; it was still... new? for him. (Probably the reason why the tingling he felt when Hyunjin looked at him for too long scared him)

"Love whoever you want, Changbinnie." he paused "I sincerely hope Felix will accept your feelings. Do you want me to go home and give you some privacy?"

"No, no. Stay with us for a while longer. We love you very much, Innie." he put a hand on his. "We want everything to work out for you and we want you to come and see us if you need help."

Jeongin wanted to cry, but rather smiled.

"Thank you so much."

*

_A few days earlier_

Mr. and Mrs. Yang couldn't wait any longer. Since they announced Jeongin's disappearance, the police had completely neglected the investigation. "There's nothing we can do..." repeated the same policeman and if the first few days he looked sorry, he sounded more disinterested than anything else now.

The parents had to fend for themselves and they thought it was unacceptable. But what could they do to make a difference, it's not as if they had any hint or leverage that they could use against the police to force them to continue the investigation.

"Honey... I can't take it anymore, Ms. Yang cried, placing her head on her husband's shoulder, "Our son is somewhere at the mercy of his kidnapper, we don't even know if he's okay." she choked. Mr. Yang passed an arm over his shoulders.

"It's going to be okay, honey, we're going to make these cops move their ass."

He took out his phone and under the wet but attentive gaze of his wife began to write an article on Naver. He had summarised their situation and then accused the police of negligence and expressed all their sadness. As soon as he had pressed the publishing button, the comments of indignant citizens had appeared.

"It's working!" muttered Madame Yang, standing up. She grabbed her husband by the wrist and made him stand, drag him to the office of the policeofficer responsible of their case. She laid the phone flat on the desk of the man clearly annoyed to see them in front of him.

"People are not happy, sir," said the woman, smiling softly, "Look at how much you and this police station disappoint them."

He read the comments and gradually his eyes widened and the color on his face faded.

"What would your superior say if he learned that by your negligence the police station is losing popularity? The end of the year will be hard for you, won't it?"

*

"That's it." Mrs. Yang arranged her jacket and defied her bun. She turned to her husband, all smiles. "It wasn't that complicated after all. This cop is finally going to do his job properly."

"You've been amazing, darling. I'm shivering."

She giggled. "Stop! I'm going to blush!"

He was going to open the door of his car so that she could settle down, but they were called. A woman with a microphone followed by a man with a camera run towards them. She took her breath a few seconds before presenting herself.

"It would be to interview you about your son,"" she finishes, smiling shyly.

The couple hesitated for a moment and then Mr. Yang finally agreed. They summarized the situation, said how obedient, kind and intelligent their son was, that he was not the kind of person to hang out with the one seen on the surveillance camera, and ended their speech by saying how much they loved their son and missed him. Mrs. Yang began to cry and only found solace in her husband's arms.

"Hold on, baby,"" she said to the camera last, "Mom and Dad are coming for you."

The reporter pulled a packet of handkerchief out of her pocket and handed one to Mrs. Yang. The cameraman stopped filming.

"Don't worry, your son will come back. I'm sure he's smart enough that nothing too bad will happen to him. Hopefully, he'll even see this interview and he'll know you're here for him."

"Thank you very much. You're probably right. Innie is a good boy."

"Thank you for speaking about it. It is important for the whole country to know that we must protect our children. You know... There is a lot of kidnapping of children younger than your son every year because we still think that we're living in a society without much danger."

"We have been so careless with him…"

"No, no, on the contrary! You reacted very quickly and your cry for help on Naver shows how desperate you are to find him. I hope he comes back to you soon, safe and sound."

Mrs. Yang wiped away her remaining tears and smiled at the reporter before saying goodbye to her. Mr. Yang took her to his car and this time she was able to settle in. They drove silently to their home. Mr. Yang seemed to be immersed in his thoughts and when his wife wanted to get out of the car, he held her by the wrist.

"Let's think about it for a moment. According to the policeman, Jeongin was with a stranger two days before he disappeared. What was he doing with him? And why in a police station? They looked pretty close on the recording; Never would Jeongin have let a stranger touch him so much without doing anything."

"You mean they're friends?"

"It's possible but at the same time... A friend of Jeongin who we don't know about is suspicious."

"Do you think he was hiding it from us? What could be the reason?"

"Because he is not someone we could appreciate. Or he did not think it was important to present him to us because they are actually not that close."

"A friend made recently and who is not dear enough to be known... and they end up together in a police station. Why would his kidnapper take the risk of being seen in his presence before the kidnapping?"

"It's obvious! So we don't suspect him! This boy is a genius," she says in disgust. "If only we had his name…"

"Maybe the other children know something. We should talk to them about it."

"They're at the beach."

"Call Seungmin and Woojin's mother, she surely knows where they are staying. We could visit them and ask a few questions."

Mr. Yang nodded thoughtfully, typed a message to Mrs. Kim and got out of his car. Mrs. Yang did the same silently and they began to walk up the aisle to their house, arm in arm.

"Mr. and Mrs. Yang?"

The two adults turned to the old woman who had called them. It was their neighbour who left her house only to take care of her garden. They approached the barrier that separated their fields.

"Hello Grandma."

"I saw for your son on the news," she said with sorrow. She had never really spoken to Jeongin, but she had a certain affection for him; his constantly sad eyes were perhaps the reason. "On the night of his disappearance, I think I saw him."

Mrs. Yang gasped in surprise. She put her hands on the fence, which creaked under pressure.

"Where?"

The old lady didn't get much sleep. At twenty o'clock she was in bed and by midnight she was already not sleeping. She liked to watch the street outside her house, sipping a cup of tea when it happened. Usually there was no one on the street other than stray cats but that night she had seen someone. The Yang son running down the street, a bag full on his back.

"He was out?" whispered Mr. Yang, incredulous. "It's impossible. Why he... With the guy?"

"Do you think he went to join him?"

"That's how he got kidnapped!"

The old woman frowned, unsure of this theory. She leaned more for a runaway; the child looked so unhappy, it would not have surprised her. She was careful, however, not to give the parents her theory; she suspected that the search for the kidnapped child would quickly turn into a manhunt.

"Thank you very much Grandma!" exclaimed Mrs. Yang.

The old lady gave them a tense smile and then went home. It wasn't going to end well, she could felt it.

"I tell you," Mrs. Yang put her keys on the furniture at the entrance "that his friends surely know who Jeongin was dating out of school. Did Mrs. Kim told you where Seungmin is?"

"Yes. But she said the house is difficult to find."

"Well… let's go tomorrow. Take a day off or say you're sick. If with the kidnapping your boss refuses, he's a huge asshole."

Mr. Yang quickly nodded and went to isolate himself in the kitchen to call his boss. Mrs. Yang dropped herself on the living room couch. She was tired of it all. Her son was missing, the police were doing nothing and now she was learning that her son had probably joined a stranger before being kidnapped. _I can't wait to find him and beat the life out of him._

"It's ok," her husband said, sitting next to her. "We're leaving in the morning."

Mr. Yang was not a great driver. That's why they took longer than necessary to get to the seaside town where the boys were. They parked in the first parking lot they found; it was the one of a small shopping mall.

"It's late. We won't be able to find the house today," Ms. Yang remarked bitterly. "Let's take a hotel room."

"Sorry Darling..." whispered Mr. Yang, his head down.

They stayed for three days before they saw Chan's back…

*

"The cupboards are almost empty..." Noted Woojin when he looked at how little coffee was left in the bag. "We're going to have to go shopping. Who wants to go?"

No one answered him. Only cries of protest were raised. It had been raining since last night; it was a weather to stay warm inside the house, play board games, watch movies, read and sleep. No one wanted to go out because of that weather.

All played Monopoly except Jeongin and Chan who watched television while following the game from the corner of the eye.

Woojin watched his boyfriend and the youngest of the gang. He didn't like seeing them together. After their argument, the blond had spent the day in the company of everyone except Woojin and in the evening, although they had slept in the same bed, he had made sure to never touch Woojin. Moreover, he had not spoken to his during all the day (although it is not as if Woojin had made an effort on his side). He knew that the others had noticed the weird atmosphere between them, but he didn't care. He was just... sad. He knew that this was not the purpose of the maneuver, but Chan staying with Jeongin all the time gave him the impression that he had made a choice between them; he knew Chan was doing this because he preferred to give Woojin time to calm down before reconciling, and Woojin was grateful. He was grateful but all he wanted now was to throw himself into the blond's arms and stay there for the rest of his life.

All this frustration led him to be slightly irritated.

"I already did it last time and if you were a little less voracious, we wouldn't have to do it again already. Who's dedicated?"

Silence. He sighed. His gaze rested again on the two sitting on the sofa.

"Chan." the blond raised his head towards him, his eyes wide open with surprise and attentiveness. "Do it."

He retrieved the shopping list on the refrigerator, quickly added his coffee and handed it to Chan.

He awkwardly got up from the sofa and trotted up to him to take it. Their fingers touched and although Woojin had the strong desire to intertwine their fingers, he did nothing.

He was about to go back to bed when he heard his boyfriend ask Jeongin if he wanted to come with him.

Both left. Woojin sighed sadly and returned to his room. All this under the watchful eyes of their friends.

*

"We're going to buy as much as we can at once," Chan said as he got into his car. Jeongin put the bags in the back and went up to the front. Chan started the car and drove towards the small shopping mall. "Are we going to need ice cream? What did Woojin put on the list?"

Jeongin looked down at the piece of paper. There were many things; he had not been aware that they ate so much. It would eventually end up costing them a lot and Woojin would not be happy. Woojin...

"Did you have a fight?"

"Hm?"

"You and Woojin."

Chan grimaced. He remained silent for a moment and then sighed. He nodded.

"Yes."

"Is it serious?"

"I don't know... I hope not. I think I hurt Woojin and I'm not sure he'll forgive me. That's right... He doesn't understand my motivations and although I'd like to explain everything to him, I'm not sure I can. But don't worry! I'm sure it's going to work out between us!" he said, making a forced laugh. This sounded so wrong to Jeongin's ears that he felt his stomach twisting with concern.

"You're not going to break up, are you?"

Chan opened his mouth. Then he opened his eyes wide. Then closed his mouth. Then reopened it. Turned his widen eyes toward Jeongin. Closed his mouth again. And finally, took possession of himself.

"Breaking up?" he said very calmly, "We're not in a relationship."

"Chan..." Jeongin laughs "I know you're together. I saw you kissing.

"You didn't see correctly…"

"Why don't you tell the others?"

"We're not in a couple." Chan insisted. They were approaching the small shopping mall.

"Does Seungmin know?"

"Jeongin."

"I know the truth. Looking back, you're not that discreet. I mean, once you know, you notice everything. It shows, that you loved each other very much and I'm sure the others would be happy to know that you're toge--"

Chan suddenly parked in a parking spot and hit the steering wheel violently. He turned to Jeongin, frowning and looking red with anger.

"We're not together!" he shouted.

Jeongin reflexively shielded his head with his arms, curled up on himself. Chan gasped, guilty. He put a hand on the arm of the youngest who startled.

"Oh my God... Innie, I'm sorry. Hey..." He grabbed his hands and gently forced him to lower his arms. The boy's eyes were wide open, tears were threatening to flow and his lower lip was shaking. "Look at me, Innie. I didn't want to scream, I'm sorry. I'm not going to do anything to you, I promise. Innie..."

Chan turned the youngest's face towards him and wiped away his tears before stroked his hair. When his legs slit and his gaze became less haunted, Chan took him in his arms, no matter how weird their embrace was because of their seat belts.

"Sorry..." muttered Jeongin, his face stuck in the neck of the older man.

"Don't apologize, it's not your fault. What's between me and Woojin must be kept secret, okay?"

"Why?"

"Woojin... Woojin has already suffered too much. The fewer people know, the less likely he is to suffer."

So Woojin was suffering... How could Jeongin not have realized this? Yet they were both similar. They were fine when they were surrounded and then the second they were alone, they drowned in their demons. How could he not immediately identify the sad look Woojin had when he was alone and immersed in his thoughts? How could he have pretended that he had not noticed anything in the attitude of the brown?

Jeongin found himself very selfish.

"I want to help Woojin," he said.

Chan parted ways with him to observe him carefully.

"What?"

"I want to help him to no longer suffer."

"Oh..." he smiles sadly "I don't think there's much we can do. It's not up to us to do anything." he arranged Jeongin's hair and then unbuckled his seat belt. "Come on! Let's do the groceries!"

Although Jeongin actively helped Chan out of the shopping, his mind was elsewhere.

He didn't understand why he couldn't help Woojin. Did it all depend on this one? Or someone else? But who?

"I think we've got everything we need," Chan said, pouting, one last time watching their bags full before pulling Jeongin toward the cash register. They moved as quickly as possible to get rid of the bags that weighed very heavy. Jeongin, far too immersed in his thoughts did not notice the car of his father and his parents sitting inside it looking at him with amazement.

*

"We're home!" shouted Chan as he headed to the kitchen. He was greeted by steps similar to those of a herd of elephants and five teenagers running in the kitchen. Like the hungry animals they were, they rushed to the bags, quickly tidying up the groceries and setting aside the snacks they had spotted.

The blond frowned. He looked for Woojin's gaze, but he was not there. Neither did Jeongin and Hyunjin.

"Finish tidying up," he whispered as he left the kitchen. Hyunjin and Jeongin probably had to be together, but Woojin was certainly alone. Chan did not like it when he did because he thought that even if Woojin was fine, at some point his thread of thoughts would lead him to remember his life's not very happy times. Chan didn't want that.

"Woojin?"

He pushed open the door of their room. Woojin was lying in front of the window with his headphone on his ears. He had not heard Chan return. The blond stood for a moment watching him, swaying from one foot to the other. He decided to approach and recognized the song Woojin was listening to; his eyes were suddenly filled with tears and his lower lip began to tremble. He went around the bed to face Woojin, who, with his eyes closed, had still not noticed him, and then stooped down to hug him.

Woojin startled and the top of Chan's head pushed the headphone that fell, the music became clearer.

"I didn't know you were still listening to that song." whispered the blonde, his voice breaking at the end. "I miss all that.

"Me too." Woojin hug him too.

Ah... It was going to be hard to let him go. Chan was going to miss him. He'd be devastated. But it was for the best.

"Woojin, when all of it is over... You have to go back to your parents."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry to post that chapter this late ! I had so much trouble writting it >~<
> 
> Anyway ! I hope you liked to read it ^^ Please, leave some comment, it will encourage to write the rest of the story !
> 
> See you soon !


	13. [announcement]

Hi everyone,

I should have post this earlier but I wasn't really in a good state for that, sorry. With Woojin being out of Stray Kids I didn't know if I was able, if I should continue including him in my story and for a while, I even thought about making Woojin going back to his apartment without Chan or Jeongin or the others in EVERYTHING. But I started receiving mails of other writers saying that they won't stop writing about him and yeah, they're right. We shouldn't erase him, act as if he never was in Stray Kids ; so I will keep going. Because he is one of my favorite, because he is the main character of my next story (that is only planned for now) and also because I received a few kudos during the last two days that seem to say : please don't give up!

The next chapter of EVERYTHING will be post when I will finish it but, I won't lie to you, I didn't even write half of it sooooo it will take some times before I'll be able to post, sorry.

See you next time,

LullabyForACat


	14. BONUS → Ursa Major

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bonus part about Ursa Major, the house near the beach where the boys are living !

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone ! I have been missing for a long time now and I am sorry about that. It's just that I have so much homework so I can hardly find time to write. I'll be back, I promise.
> 
> A bonus part to make you forgive me :')

Hi !  
One of my French readers build a house in the Sims based on the house plans I made of the holiday house of the boys. I would like to show it to you too !

Here is the link :  
https://my.w.tt/hPHwZsXXU1

If you can have access to it, just search LullabyForACat on Wattpad to find my account then you'll be able to read EVERYTHING, the house is in the last chapter posted !

Thank you for your patience and I hope to see you soon :)

LullabyForACat12


	15. Days Gone By

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I. Am. Back !

"Jeongin!" exclaimed Hyunjin as the youngest got out of the car after shopping. "Come with me!" he grabbed his hand and ran with him in the house. They quickly climbed the steps to get upstairs and then ran to the office.

"Why did you... Wow."

Jeongin couldn't believe his eyes. The office was beautiful.

Hyunjin had pushed all the objects lying around and then laid on the carpet a duvet on which he had placed all the cushions (or almost) that he had found in the house and in the middle of it all, there was a tray with the last snacks that there had in the cupboards before he left. On the bench were Hyunjin's computer and a speaker; the small window was covered with thick fabric to prevent light from entering and plunging the room into darkness.

Hyunjin said, "So? How is it?"

"That's great!"

Jeongin dropped on the cushions and Hyunjin did the same after closing the door; he didn't want to be disturbed by anyone. He lay down on his side to observe the youngest, who had his eyes closed and was smiling softly. Jeongin was really beautiful and cute, so sweet and patient but also funny and smart; Jeongin was his best friend... And he was desperately in love with him.

And he knew Jeongin didn't like him back.

He could not help but hope that one day he would finally hear "I love you" crossing the youngest lips. Hyunjin had never been like that; his heart had never been so warm and painful at the same time just at the sight of Jeongin. He often thought of the boy, laughed when he laughed, cried when he cried... Little by little, Jeongin had become the center of his world.

"Jinnie?"

Jeongin stood up and patted the place next to him while staring with his big shiny eyes at Hyunjin. He put aside his thoughts and settled on cushions.

"It's really cool, you know?"

"I did it for you."

Jeongin's ears turned red and Hyunjin felt his eyes warm up, as if he were going to cry.

"Thank you Jinnie."

Hyunjin suddenly became shy in front of Jeongin's brilliant gaze. He grated his throat and grabbed his computer, just to run away from his shyness.

"I... I downloaded a few movies before I left. _How to Train Your Dragon_ , do you want to watch it?"

There are two films that Jeongin loved more than anything in the world, it was _Ratatouille_ and _How to Train Your Dragon_ (the trilogy, of course) and as at the time Hyunjin did not know that Jeongin would come, he had downloaded them to drown his sorrow; But now! They were going to make a happy Jeongin.

"Yes! I love this movie.

"I know."

Hyunjin knew Jeongin so well, it was disturbing. The way he looked at him was so sweet and benevolent. His heart was beating fast in his chest... Jeongin couldn't fall in love with Hyunjin, he had no right to do so. This was not normal. Why was he like that?!

He sighed. "Let's start..." he murmured, turning to the screen, now lying on his stomach.

Hyunjin pressed the play button in silence, disappointed with Jeongin's cold attitude. He kept going from very close and cuddly to cold and distant in the blink of an eye and Hyunjin did not know what was the reason. He was lost.

"This is Beurk," Jeongin whispered at the same time as Hiccup and Hyunjin's heart melted. He put an arm behind Jeongin's back and used several cushions to lay his head but stay on the right level to be able of seeiing the screen. Jeongin snuggled up unconsciously against him and he greeted him with joy.

Hyunjin didn't know what was wrong and he wanted to talk to Jeongin about it but for now... For now, he was going to enjoy their moment.

*

_Earlier that day_

Mr. and Mrs. Yang were watching their son. He went to sit in the car when the man - the same as on the surveillance camera recording - patted his shoulder. The kidnapper climbed to the passenger side and started the car, leaving the parking lot quickly.

"Was it Jeongin?" asked Mr. Yang, without believing it. His wife nodded. "And the guy next to him... Chan?"

Mr. Yang did not believe his eyes. The bastard who had taken his son, who had made his dear wife cry, the bastard for whom he did not sleep the night was Bang Chan. That dirty gay overfall offender. How dare this slut touch his child?

"The little bastard." He said. "Honey, call the police. We're going to get that bastard locked up."

He began to discreetly follow Chan's car.

So all this time, he was the one who had their child, uh. It wasn't even surprising after all. People like him tend to do whatever they want when ever they want. Jeongin had told them that he could not come with them to the beach, but this little bitch had decided otherwise. He forced Jeongin to go with him. The other boys probably weren't even aware that Jeongin was forced to be there. His poor boy must have been scared to death. He probably prayed for his parents to find him; he probably cried as often as he thought of his parents.

"Hello? Inspector? Did you keep the address I sent you? Join us, we found Jeongin and his kidnapper!" Mrs. Yang sighed. "Then contact the nearest post!" she barked before hanging up.

*

"Woojin, when it's all over... You have to go back to your parents."

The older man stood up, shocked. He scoffed for a while before taking Chan's hand between his own, looking at him with concern.

"Why do you say that? What is…"

"I have no right to do that to you. It's my fault you can't live your dream. As long as I'm here, you won't be…"

"Happy?" Chan nodded shyly.

Woojin knew this was an idea that had been running through Chan's head for a while. He had already heard him tell their friend Brian about it, when he thought he was still sleeping in their room or when he hadn't heard him come home from work.

Woojin sighed. He should have talked about it sooner. "Chanie, you're wrong. I'm happy."

The blond frowned. It wasn't true. Woojin was not happy. He did not like his work, he could barely take care of his plants in their tiny apartment, he had been forced to give up his dream, he no longer saw his parents and very little his dear brother. Woojin was not happy. Chan couldn't take it anymore.

He could no longer hear him crying in the bathroom, seeing his face darkened by his thoughts, he could not stand his old skin so warm turned pale due to a lack of exposure to the sun; he spent so much time locked in an office to make sure they could survive at the end of the month that he could barely see the sun, he who loved to bath in the morning sun while strolling in the courtyard of their high school.

And all that... all this fatigue and sorrow was Chan's fault and he could no longer pretend that he saw nothing.

"No, you're not happy, Jinnie." He sighed. His eyes landed on the headphones, the music was always audible. It reminded him of so many memories. It was so painful. He was so sorry.

"You always wanted to be a singer…"

"That's right. And I've always wanted to be a writer too. My dream careers... don't stay forever. Otherwise I'll be a policeman, just like all little boys want."

"You still have time to become a singer. You have to go back to your parents' house for that."

"Do you think I'd be better off there?"

"Of course I do."

"That's stupid.

"No it's not!" said Chan, Woojin really didn't understand. "Because of me, you have nothing!"

Chan had been selfish. He had been selfish to let Woojin come with him. If he had rejected him, he would not have been there. Woojin rubbed Chan's hand with his thumbs.

"Ask me what my dream is." Chan looked at him, confused. Woojin smiled softly, almost tenderly. "My dream..."

Someone opened the door of the room and surprised, they parted away. Jisung entered, totally out of breath and panicked. His eyes wide going from Chan to Woojin and from Woojin to Chan frantically.

"Policemen! And Mrs. and Mrs. Yang! In front of the house!"

Without waiting more, they rushed to the living room. Woojin glanced outside through one of the living room windows and then turned to all those present; Seungmin was upstairs and Jeongin and Hyunjin had been missing for a while. Woojin hoped they would not reappear for a while.

"Minho, send a message to Seungmin. Ask him to hide Jeongin's stuff. And delete the messages afterwards." The brown nodded and furiously typed the message. "Everyone relaxes. They don't seem to be there because they know Jeongin is here." He turned to Chan, who was watching the scene, paralyzed. He was scared to death. "Let me talk to them, okay?" he approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Go to our room to calm down. Don't come until I invite them into the kitchen."

Chan nodded, began to walk towards the room, then turned around to give Woojin a quick hug.

"Thank you," he said before finally going into hiding.

The police soon knocked at the front door. Woojin waited about 30 seconds before opening it.

"Hello mess—Mr. and Mrs. Yang?" he opened his eyes as if surprised to see them. "I learned about Jeongin, how are going—

"Ya! Kim Woojin immediately stops acting! We know he's here!" began to yell Mrs. Yang. She tried to pass the police, but they and her husband prevented her from doing so. Woojin took his most lost air.

"We have a few questions for you," asked one of the policemen, Woojin backed off and beckoned them to come in. "Of course. Let's go into the kitchen."

They sat at the table and at the same time Chan appeared, his eyes staring at his phone's screen and heading towards the refrigerator without realizing the looks placed on him. Mr. Yang rose violently, his chair fell and Chan's eyes opened wide upon him. The man grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and began to shake him back and forth while insulting him.

The police quickly intervened, reprimanding Mr. Yang for so much violence and asking Chan to join them. He went to sit next to Woojin showing that he was shaken.

"We're here about Yang Jeongin, who disappeared several days ago."

"Do you know where he is?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Yang say they saw you with him, Mr. Bang, today."

Chan frowned. He took a thoughtful look.

"I haven't seen Jeongin since I went to high school to pick up Seungmin's report card..."

Woojin nodded, explaining that when their parents were out of the country, he was his brother's legal guardian. The police asked to speak to him and Woojin called him. The boy walked down the stairs before stopping surprised, in front of the police officers.

"Come on, Minnie. It's about Jeongin." Seungmin stood by his brother, preferring to stay up.

"You know where Jeongin is, misters?" he asked, taking the same innocent air as with his parents when he was doing something bad. The policeman seemed to regret saying no to him.

"Where was the last time you saw him?"

"In high school, we finished school at 6PM. He did not come on Thursday and Friday."

"Why didn't you worry about him right away?"

"I did. I thought he was sick. And then I was a little busy with preparing my suitcase to come here."

"Why didn't you invite him?"

"We did!" said Seungmin, looking outraged, he was his friend, for God's sake! He would never forget to invite him! "Look!" he said, pointing to their group chat on KakaoTalk, Jeongin saying in a message that he couldn't come with them. "His parents said no..." he pouted, drawing the sympathy of the police.

Woojin wondered where the boy had learned to act like this but didn't complain, it was very helpful to them.

The policemen turned a skeptical glance at the parents who watched the scene, bubbling with rage.

"Why does Mr. and Mrs. Yang claim to have seen you with Jeongin, Mr. Bang?é

"Maybe they didn't saw correctly." he stuttered, the calm he had managed to keep flying away. His brain began to spin at full speed. "I went shopping with..." who could pass for Jeongin?! "Minho!"

The young man sat on the sofa in the living room listening to the conversation frowned. Who would gobble that up? He sighed. He had to save the situation, as usual... He got up, and walked nonchalantly towards the kitchen.

"Did you call me, hyung?"

"Mr and Mrs Yang think I was with Jeongin at the supermarket."

"He was with me," he said, looking directly into the eyes of one of th policeman and then the other. His heart quickly beat at the thought of lying to lawmen, but his face remained neutral and his posture all the more relaxed. His desire to protect Jeongin definitely gave him wings.

"Well... We're going to go then. Please excuse Mr. and Mrs. Yang, this is all very hard for them."

Woojin nodded with understanding. He smiles sadly at the parents.

"Don't hesitate to send me a message if there is anything we can do for you," he says with false benevolence.

The Yangs turned their backs on him and left the house angrily. They watched them get into their cars and then leave.

They had managed to erase any suspicion of the police but the Yangs knew their child was there and they seemed willing to do anything to get him back. They were in danger now. Jeongin was in danger.


	16. 어린 날개 (Young Wings)

Chan turned to the boys present. They all observed the door as if they were afraid that the four adults would come back. He sighed.

"Seungmin, go get Jeongin and Hyunjin please? They're somewhere upstairs."

"OK."

" Woojin, can we talk please?"

The three remaining teenagers watched the older ones go to the room they shared. Minho made a comment, being sure there was something between that two but neither Felix nor Jisung reacted.

Chan closed the door as soon as Woojin got in.

"We can't just stay here. They know Jeongin's here."

"Where do you want us to go? Leaving was not included in our plan."

"I know, I know... We could find a hotel or something?"

"And what money do we pay with? We have to take the others home."

"I'm going alone with Jeongin then."

"That would be suspicious. The police come to see us and the next day the kids have already gone home and you're missing? It's shady."

Chan sighed, shaking his hair in every direction with both hands. Their basic plan was so simple! So simple that Chan didn't think he'd get caught! Why did he have to go out with Jeongin just when the Yangs were also there?!

"Chan, we know they'll come back. We have to go away. I have an aunt living two cities from here, maybe we can stay with her."

"She won't say anything about Jeongin?"

Woojin hesitated. This aunt... she was the bitter one of her mother's siblings, she could be violent in her words, she was severe and sometimes mean, she had never missed an opportunity to denounce or scold Woojin and Seungmin when they did stupid things, as insignificant they were. But despite this, if he explain her the situation, she would not call the police. Right? He sighed.

"I don't know, Chan. She's unpredictable. But who don't try anything get nothing."

"Okay. Tonight, we'll be on the road. The Yangs despite driving at night."

"You too."

"Yes, but I have better eye sight." Chan smiled arrogantly before approaching the door to open it.

He lost his arrogant expression when Felix, Jisung and Minho fell at his feet into a mountain of intertwined limbs and complaints. They quickly got up under the surprised gaze of the other two.

"We weren't listening at all at the door!" cried Felix, all red with embarrassment.

"Minho forced us!" interjected Jisung, pointing to the older of the three.

"Is it true that we're leaving?" asked the latter, ignoring the other two.

"Meeting in the living room." Woojin says with authority.

*

Seungmin went up the stairs rapidly. He began to look for Hyunjin and Jeongin in each of the rooms. It was already getting dark, but Seungmin was lazy to turn around to turn on the light in the hallway to see more clearly. So he guided himself in the dark hoping not to walk on any beast or object painfully.

When Hyunjin and Jeongin disappeared, Seungmin was usually occupied by Jisung's love story, he never had time to go looking for them but today he finally had the opportunity to find them.

"Where are they?" he had already looked in all the rooms, he only had the bathroom left.

He approached it but a light coming from his right caught his attention. It came from the door constantly closed. According to Chan, it was a small office that then served as a storage room that her aunt kept closed so that no one would get hurt. They had tried to open it on the first day but had not succeeded, they had given up; and Seungmin, with is uncurious personality, had quickly forgotten it.

Is that where the other two spent their time?

Seungmin gently approached the door and lowered the handle so slowly that it did not squeak. He pushed the wooden panel so that only his head could pass. From the outside we heard nothing but now, a soundtrack that he knew too well was perfectly audible. Hyunjin and Jeongin were seated on the ground, glued to each other on a blanket and surrounded by cushions; they were watching _Ratatouille_. Without Seungmin.

"Guys..." he began. They startled, turning to Seungmin as if they had been caught committing a crime. "We're waiting for you downstairs. Meeting."

Then he left.

He was a little disappointed, actually. He knew that Hyunjin and Jeongin saw themselves as best friends, but he had always thought he had his place; that they were a trio, not a duet. After all, they had grown up together. He felt like he was no longer counting for them. It is as if at some point in their friendship Hyunjin and Jeongin had decided that it was time to separate; it is as if they had abandoned Seungmin at a station and got on the train of life without him.

Was it because he was less cuddly than Hyunjin? Or less optimistic than Jeongin? Was he too cold for them to the point of having unconsciously distanced them from him? Was it his fault?

He reached the bottom of the stairs and went to sit in the living room next to Felix; on the couch facing the fire place.

Everyone was silently tense, but he didn't realize it. He realized, however, the steps that were meant to be discreet on the stairs. The sources of his torment appeared.

Woojin got up from the other sofa on which he sat with Changbin and made the two latecomers sit with them. He sat down and Chan got up from the chair on the right and began to walk. He walk around the living room once before stopping in front of Jeongin. He crouched down to be up to his height and put a hand on his knee.

"Innie... Your parents came by with the police earlier."

They all watched attentively the reaction of the youngest. He was looking at Chan, but he seemed totally absent. He understood what the blond had told him, but it was as if his brain refused to register the information; he was in deep denial.

"What are you talking about?" he laughed joylessly, his big eyes not shining with amusement. "It's not funny..." He brought his arms back against him.

"It's not a joke."

Silence. Seungmin watched Hyunjin's arm rise and his hand sit on Jeongin's shoulder to comfort him. That Jeongin was sad broke his heart, but this little gesture made him burn of jealousy.

"They know... That I'm here?"

"Yes."

"So..." his voice broke. He took a deep breath to calm down and resumed. "You have to take me back there."

"Jeongin…"

"We made a deal. I want to go home."

Woojin and Chan exchanged panicked glances. They had not thought about the fact that Jeongin would want to go home after learning for his parents.

"Innie…"

"You promised. I don't want to put anyone in danger."

Seungmin felt his heart racing. Jeongin couldn't go back there! If he did that he would be hurt again and he would be unhappy again, and he would lose his _joie de vivre_ , he would become pale again and lose weight! He was just beginning to look less ill...

Jeongin suddenly got up making Chan rock back and fall on his butt.

"I'm going to pack my things..." muttered the youngest.

"No." Felix had also stood up. He stared at Jeongin, he looked unusually angry. "Do you really think we're going to let you put your head in the lion´s den? Do you think we're just going to let you go like this? Are you even thinking?! You're our friend! We can't let you go home! Your parents are monsters!"

"They are not monsters..." muttered Jeongin, tucking his head into his shoulders.

"Of course they are!" yelled Felix.

Jeongin startled and Changbin reacted quickly, getting up to catch the redhead and pull him into the kitchen.

Jeongin sobbed then ran upstairs. Those present all turned to Chan. He got up slowly, his face closed, preventing anyone from knowing what he might think or feel.

"Get your stuff together. Minho, put all our supplies in plastic bags, load the cars. We'll put the cool ones last." Then he walked upstairs.

Woojin sighed before heading to his room to do his bags. The others imitated him judiciously.

*

Chan knocked at the door of the room shared by the three youngest in their group and then entered. It only took him a glance to realize that Jeongin was not there. The same for the other two rooms. Finally, he arrived in front of the office. He opened the door, not expecting to find the youngest there.

"Jeongin..."

The boy didn't even react. He was sitting on the meridian sofa, his legs held close to his torso by his arms and his head hidden in the middle. He didn't seem to be crying, but Chan could see one of his hands contracting and relaxing around his leg. The blond approached gently, taking the liberty of sitting next to the youngest. He passed an arm over his shoulders.

"You don't have to go back to your parents, Innie. I know you don't want anything to happen to us but... we don't want anything to happen to you too. Woojin and I... We promised to help you. We want you to live a better life."

"I can't live better knowing that my parents have hurt you. Everyone thinks you kidnapped me. What do you think's going to happen if the police sees us together? You're going to get arrested and you're going to be sent to jail and we're all going to be sad. And it's going to be my fault!"

"No one will go to jail, Innie."

Silence. Chan had seemed so convinced that Jeongin had believed him. But not for long. He had already believed too much what his elders had told him. He believed in it and that was always proved wrong; Chan had been unable to do anything at the police station, Woojin had been unable to do anything at the police station and his parents had found him while he was supposed to be safe.

"Stop, Chan. Stop lying to me. Why do you want to help me so much? You don't have to, so leave me." Jeongin had lived sixteen years with his parents, he could well endure them for another five years.

"You're right, Jeongin. I don't have to." Oh? "I'm actually selfish. I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing this for me. If I can't free you from your parents, then I'm never going to find inner peace. Have mercy on me and let me help you. Don't let me..." his voice broke. Jeongin looked up at him. He was not crying, but his face showed so much pain. "Don't let me drown in guilt and eternal reproach."

What could have passed her so that Chan would be so upset? It was certainly not Jeongin's idea of returning to his parents' home that put him in this state. It was much deeper. Could Jeongin go home to his parents and live with the idea of leaving Chan in such distress? Could he ignore his friend's request like that? He couldn't just abandon him. Not after all Chan had done for him; and not only since he had learned about the Yang abusive behavior but everything from the beginning, since their meeting. The way he had taken care of him, how he had gave him advices, consoled him, helped him; he had always been there for Jeongin, always... No. Jeongin definitely couldn't abandon him.

"Okay..." he murmured as he rose. "I'm going to pack my things." he couldn't get very far because Chan took him in his arms.

"Thank you..." he said low (because his voice would surely break if he tried to speak louder). He parted with the boy, looked at him with a wet look one last time before leaving hurriedly when his face began to tremble and let place to a sader expression.

Chan quickly crossed the hallway, ran down the stairs and rushed into the room he shared with Woojin. The later was folding their clothes. He turned to Chan. It only took him a glance to understand the condition of the blonde. He dropped the top he was holding and opened his arms to hug Chan.

"How did it go?"

"He's coming with us."

Woojin was going to smile but he felt the collar of his t-shirt sticking to his skin, wet. Chan was crying.

"Hey... What's wrong?"

Chan did not answer. His body began to tremble with each. He was really upset and Woojin couldn't do anything about it other than to squeeze him a little more against him.

"It's going to be okay Chanie. Everything's going to be all right."

*

It was cold outside.

Midnight was approaching and with each passing minute, the air was getting cooler and cooler. They had all put on their vests but it wasn't enough to warm up and apart from Chan, Woojin and Jeongin wearing jeans, the others all had shorts.

"Are we all here?" asked Chan, counting the heads. One, two, three... Nine. He unlocked his car and Minho imitated him. They split up like the first time with one exception; Seungmin had not gone with Chan, Woojin, Jeongin and Hyunjin.

Chan opened the march, embarking on the dirt road.

After a quarter of an hour, they reached the exit of the city. There was no one on the road but them. It was deserted. Woojin didn't know how it went in the other vehicle, but here the tension was palpable. They were sitting in silence, Chan had turned off the radio as soon as he had started the engine and Hyunjin and Jeongin, although awake despite the hour, was plunged into an unbearable silence. They were each sitting on one side of the car, not looking at each other, not caring, not talking. Jeongin was still upset because of what had happened with Felix. The sweet and kind and smiling and warm Felix had got angry and had yelled at him, it had never happened before. Not even the time Jeongin dropped Felix's phone and the screen cracked a little.

Jeongin didn't know what to do. He didn't want Felix to stay mad at him but he didn't know how to make Felix forgive him. With his parents he usually made himself discret, prepared them superb breakfasts and dinners, he ironed their clothes and cleaned the house... and then all he had to do was cross his fingers so that they would forgive him without hitting him. Would Felix hit him? Of course not! Felix would never do that! Although he had seemed able to do so at the time...

Jeongin's throat tightened. His hands began to tremble. His stomach twisted.

He had to avoid Felix.

"Chan... You're way below the speed limit," said Woojin, unaware of Jeongin's state.

"I know, I know. I don't want us to have an accident."

"I have a better view,"" he had said earlier!" the brown muttered. He pulled out his phone. "According to Maps, there's a hostel nearby. We can stop there for the night and we will go to my aunt's house tomorrow. I think we're quite far away from..." he glanced at the back of the car. "from _them_ , now. It will give me the opportunity to warn Aunt Pil Sook of our coming."

"OK..."

They drove another ten minutes, fields illuminated only by the rays of the moon, as only companions, before arriving at the hostel. It was not very big, a rather rustic style; only the concrete car park and the bright sign, "Bloom", whose second O no longer lit up, were a witness to modernity. Chan got in the car park and a few seconds later Minho did the same. No one left the vehicles though.

"What are we doing for Jeongin?" asked Hyunjin. "What if the owners turn us in?"

"Well... Jeongin, put on your hood and stay close to me. If we're asked anything, you're car sick and we stopped there to let you breathe until tomorrow. Understood?"

The youngest took a long time before nodding to Woojin's question. He would not have to try to look sick; his ill-being was already taking care of it.

He went out of the car then pull on his hood. He looked at the sign and prayed that this time everything would go well.

"Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi !  
> Please leave some comments to cheer me up ! Writing those days is pretty difficult for me >~<
> 
> Did you like the chapter?  
> You is your favorite character?
> 
> See you next week (I hope)!


	17. Divina Commedia

They all clung to the entrance of the inn, moving with a single movement to the small counter behind which an old lady watched them, surprised.

"Good evening," said the owner of the inn. Out of politeness and despite the stiffness of their bodies because of the previous cold, they all bent over to greet her.

"Good evening ma'am," Chan said as he step in front of the group, Woojin and Jeongin under his arm, on his heels. "Could we have the prices please?"

The woman was surprised, she thought they had just stopped here to take a break before going back on the road; few young people wanted to spend the night in his establishment because he was not trendy enough and "instagrammable" for them.

"As you are more than five, it's twenty-six thousand won at night. With thirteen thousand won more, breakfast is included."

Chan began rummaging through his bag to retrieve his wallet, but Woojin handed his credit card to the woman. It took some time before it was seized; her gaze was constantly drawn to the little one who was hiding under the arm of the owner of the card. She saw only part of his face but he was not unknown to her. Where did she see him?

She came out of her thoughts when she realized that the other boys had started protesting, searching their pockets for money.

"Hyung, we're not letting you pay for all of us!" said Minho offended, Jisung next to him nodded violently.

"We have money too!"

"It would be easier to pay now in one go." Explained Woojin. "You'll pay me back next time."

Everyone knew he would refuse their money after, but his unappealing tone convinced everyone not to insist.

The innkeeper handed the debit-card terminals to Woojin, who quickly enter his code. The woman took several keys (almost all) and placed them on the counter. The older boy began to distribute them and then drove the younger ones to their rooms.

Keeping the boy hooded under his arm, Woojin turned to the woman.

"When should we return the keys?"

"Early in the evening if possible. And breakfast is at nine o'clock."

He look down at the boy.

"Would it be possible to have a hot drink? Tea or…"

"Is he sick?"

"He has motion sickness…"

"I see… I'm going to make him a hot chocolate."

"Thank you."

Woojin gave her a small smile and then took Jeongin to one of the sofas in the living room, facing the fireplace, which was already on. He sat down with the youngest and took his seat beside him. He seemed very pale, as if really sick. Woojin worried.

"What's wrong, Innie?"

He did not cross his gaze, keeping him fixed on his hands as he gently curled up on himself. A trembling sigh passed his lips.

"Is Felix gone?" he asked.

"He's in his room. What- Innie, for what happened earlier... Felix got mad, but he doesn't blame you, okay? Don't think he's mad at you, he's mad at your parents." Jeongin mumbled something and Woojin didn't understand, but Jeongin facial expression indicated that he was not troubled by Felix's wrath, there was more to it than that. Woojin passed an arm over his shoulders and drew him closer. "What really puts you in this state? I can only help you if you tell me."

The youngest clad in his side and remained silent for a moment. Could he tell Woojin what was bothering him? Did he really have to add a weight to the shoulders of the older who were already annoyed? Woojin was stressed, probably still angry with Chan and thirty-nine miles won poorer: he didn't need more worries. However, was not knowing what put Jeongin in this state one more reason to worry? And well... Jeongin didn't have to tell him what was really bothering him. That way, Woojin would think it's an old worry and wouldn't have to add a new one on his shoulders.

"It's just that... I don't want my parents to hurt you."

And Woojin fell head first in the trap.

"Oh, Innie... Your parents won't do anything to us. They can't. They won't have the opportunity. We're safe here and tomorrow we'll hit the road, we'll go to my aunt's house and then we'll be even more safe."

It's not what Jeongin would have liked to hear (he would have preferred Woojin to assure him that Felix wouldn't do anything to him) but it was his fault if it wasn't for that and he would settle for it. He snuggled up a little more against Woojin, just looking for physical and non-verbal comfort. Woojin gave him one of his hugs, He surrounds with all is warmth the other person, comforting them and protecting them from all of their demons.

At ease and especially very tired, Jeongin fell asleep quickly.

The innkeeper arrived. Handed Woojin the cup of chocolate after realizing that the boy was sleeping and sat on an armchair closer to the fireplace, her own cup in her hand.

"He's getting better?"

"I think... He just needs some sleep. He hasn't slept much these days."

She observed him longer and unconsciously, Woojin pressed him a little more against him. A flash of recognition crossed the woman's gaze and she suddenly stood up. It was the kidnapped kid! She had taken a long time to recognize him because he was different: less pale, his cheeks fuller, he looked incredibly peacefull compared to the pale and tense version she had seen of him on TV.

"Madam..." she looked up at the older boy who looked totally panicked. "Please don't do anything. It is not... It's not what you think." he was completely panicked but also very quiet, he didn't want to wake the kid. "Don't call the police..."

The blond who was sitting at the counter of the entrance, looking a little bit anxious, turned to them. He got off his stool and approached them.

"Everything is fine?" he asked softly and the innkeeper was sure he wasn't talking like that to avoid waking the younger one, but because he was exhausted.

"There is no problem,"" said the woman and smiled softly at her. "Just tell me everything and we'll see."

" Tell you what?"

"How is it that a kidnapped child is with you?" Chan became pale, Woojin bacame pale, and the woman was afraid that one of them would faint. "Should I call the police?"

"N-no. Please listen to us."

Chan sat down on the couch, on the other side of Jeongin, who found himself encircled by two well-built guys and began to tell all that had happened before they arrived at the inn. He t how Jeongin hid the abuse he had suffered from an early age, how Chan had felt like vomiting when he saw the condition of Jeongin's body wounded, bluish and scratched; how they had been rejected twice at the police station and that the only solution they had found was to hide Jeongin when he had run away... and then how Chan ended up first and only suspect in Jeongin's kidnapping.

"So... Jeongin was never kidnapped. He ran away because his parents are abusing him. It's horrible... If he goes home, it will get worse…"

"Please don't denounce us." whispered Woojin, begging.

"I won't. No one should suffer like this, let alone by the hand of their parents. I can pack a few dishes for you tomorrow."

"Don't bother for us, ma'am! Not calling the police is already a lot."

"It's mostly natural. I'll make some feed for you. Go to bed."

The two older boys glanced at each other then turned to the woman to give her their most genuine smiles.

"Thank you very much, ma'am!"

Chan carried Jeongin and Woojin followed them to their room. The innkeeper smiles at herself. She felt like she had done the right thing. After all, Jeongin wouldn't trust his kidnappers if they really were, there was no reason why she wouldn't believe in their story.

*

Chan gently put Jeongin on the bed and Woojin took off his shoes.

"What just happened?" he whispered, turning to his boyfriend. He shook his head from right to left, not knowing what to answer. Chan took him in his arms, sticking his head to his own and breathing in the almost fainted smell of his shampoo. After a few minutes of remaining in complete immobility, Woojin repeatedly rubbed Chan's back and they parted ways.

"Go take a shower," Woojin said, covering Jeongin with a sheet he had taken from the dresser in the room. A soothing silence set in and everyone proceeded to their routine in order to go to bed. Chan left the bathroom to make way for his boyfriend, put on a sweater and wide pants that he had put in his backpack before leaving and then leaved the room.

He crossed the hallway and knocked on the first door from which light was escaping.

Minho opened it.

"Hey, Chan. What's going on?"

The blond entered the room and went to sit directly on the bed. Jisung came out of the adjacent room, just finishing brushing his teeth. Judging the situation quickly, he murmured that he was going to look for the others. He returned five minutes later, Seungmin and Hyunjin following him, pouting while Changbin dragged a half-asleep Felix behind him.

"I won't be long." warned Chan. "We have to go to your aunt's house tomorrow," he says, turning to Seungmin, "So no one undoes their bag. We're not leaving in the morning so sleep as much as you want. Rest as much as you can because you'll make the minimum on the road."

"How's Jeongin?" interrupted Seungmin, playing with a thread that protruded from his wide t-shirt.

"He's sleeping right now. You've all been great with him lately, thank you. But with what happened today, I will have to ask you to redouble your efforts. I know it's hard but it's almost over." He paused for a moment. He didn't feel like making an encouraging speech tonight. "Felix..." the redhead raised his head before lowering it again and hiding behind Changbin. "You and Jeongin will have to discuss what happened today. I think it upset him."

Chan got up, approached the redhead and put a hand on his hair as a sign of comfort. He knew that Felix had not wanted to upset Jeongin, that it was Yang's parents' fault that he was in that state. Felix was not angry with Jeongin but was angry with his inability to protect him; like Chan (and probably Woojin).

"Good night, guys." said the oldest one last time before leaving Minho and Jisung's room to return to his.

Woojin had turned off the main light to turn on his bedside lamp. He was under the sheets, leaning on his pillow against the bed back; he read one of the novels he had found in the drawer of the bedside table, his glasses well placed on his nose. He turned his gaze towards Chan, curious.

"I talked to the boys."

"How are they doing?"

"They are completely dead. Felix didn't hesitate to make Changbin his pillow."

"You think it's going to work out between Felix and Jeongin."

Chan crept under the sheets, taking care not to disturb the youngest of the group who separated him from his boyfriend.

"Felix seems to regret it. If Jeongin gives him the opportunity to ask for forgiveness then it should be okay between them."

" OK." Woojin gave him a little smile and then gently leaned over Jeongin to lay a kiss on Chan's cheek. "Good night?"

"Good night."

Woojin turned off the light. Chan settled down comfortably, feeling his eyes already made heavy by fatigue, closing themselves. The last thing he saw was Jeongin's silhouette and Woojin's, which protruded behind. Seeing them eventually relax his last tense muscles and he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who forgot to post that chapter ! It's me :'D
> 
> I hope you liked it ! I promise the next one is going to be more light hearted (I don't know if it's how we say...) ;)  
> Thank you for all the kudos and comment, it's always a pleasure to receive them <3
> 
> See you, next time !


	18. 15. (extract)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo, I was really inspired for this chapter but it is not finished yet and it starts getting long (closed to 3k words right now) so I decided to post an extract for now. Sorry :( I hoped you'll like it anyway.

Woojin composed his aunt's number and cloned his phone in his ear. After a few tones, the woman picked up.

"Hello?"

"Good morning, aunt."

"What do you want?"

"My friends and I need a place to rest for a while and as we are not far from your home, I wanted to know if it's possible that we come."

"No. You and Seungmin are already little monsters, I don't want any more punk in my house."

"But..."

"No, it's no. You've got to solve it out on your own."

And she hung up. Woojin sighed. What did he expect when he contacted this woman? He should have expected that. What were they going to do now? They had nowhere to go and they couldn't stay here, it would be way too expensive.

He felt a hand lay on his shoulder. Minho appeared beside him, anxious.

"So what? What did she say?

"She refused."

The youngest pouted. "What a shrew..." Minho had only seen hera few times but he really didn't like her. Especially because of the time she dropped his cookie, the very last of the package, in the wet grass of their garden. He had never forgiven her.

Woojin laughs a little. Minho gave him a little smile, his eyes shining mischievously. The brown man tapped his shoulder one last time before going in search of Chan. He was supposed to tell himthe news.

He found him sitting at the counter, chatting with the innkeeper, playing with his car keys.

"Chanie... Can I talk to you please?"

[...]

"Nooo, Woojin! Please!" whined Chan, imprisoning him in his arms. "I don't like it when you're mad at me..."

"Well, I don't like it when you're a moron." retorted the brown. His boyfriend kissed him on the neck and continued:

[...]

There were twenty-one steps to this staircase, impossible that he has not noticed their proximity. He had had nineteen steps to realize how close they were. He had had nineteen steps to suspect them of being in a relationship. And when he looked at him, he was even sure.

Woojin began to panic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo, I was really inspired for this chapter but it is not finished yet and it starts getting long (closed to 3k words right now) so I decided to post an extract for now. Sorry :( I hoped you liked it anyway.


	19. Rain Again Tomorrow

Woojin dialed his aunt's number and put his phone near his ear. After a few tones, the woman picked up.

"Hello?"

"Good morning, aunt."

"What do you want?"

"My friends and I need a place to stay for a while and as we're not far from your home, I wanted to know if it's possible for us to come."

"No. You and Seungmin are already little monsters, I don't want any more punks in my house."

"But…"

"No, it's no. You've got to work it out on your own, kiddo."

And she hung up. Woojin sighed. What did he expect when he contacted this woman? He should have expected that. What were they going to do now? They had nowhere to go and they couldn't stay here, it would be way too expensive.

He felt a hand lay on his shoulder. Minho appeared beside him, anxious.

"So what? What did she say?"

"She refused."

The youngest pouted. "But what a shrew..." Minho had only seen her a few times but he really didn't like her. Especially because of the time she dropped his cookie, the very last of the package, in the grass wet by a downpour. He had never forgiven her.

Woojin laughs a little. Minho gave him a little smile, his eyes shining mischievously. The brown man tapped his shoulder one last time before going in search of Chan. He was supposed to tell him the news.

He found him sitting at the counter, chatting with the innkeeper, playing with his car key.

"Chanie... Can I talk to you please?"

The blond gave him a pretty smile, still oblivious to the problem that lay before them. He jumped out of his seat and greeted the woman before walking away towards the hallway leading upstairs. They sat down the stairs. The inn was quiet, you could hear the birds outside practicing their morning singing, some of a boys playing upstairs while Minho was in the living room, reading calmly.

"So... What do you have to say to me?" asked Chan, playing with Woojin's fingers.

"I called my aunt. She won't let us come," he said quickly. It was better to remove the bandage quickly. Chan froze. Woojin watched sadly his smile fade away.

He said "What do you mean?

"She doesn't want to be ransacked her house or anything like that. We have to find another place."

"Oh, I have an idea!"

Chan quickly got on his feet, laid a kiss on Woojin's cheek and ran away. Woojin let him do it, leaning against the wall of the stairs, suddenly tired. He liked to see Chan smile like that, a proud smile. It was rare now, it made it precious... but also dreadfully sad. Chan had always grown up in an almost perfect family setting. He had loving and patient parents, always there to encourage and help him; obedient and intelligent brother and sister. Chan was just as brilliant as them. He had a ton of math competition trophy, he even finished first in his class on the final exam in high school. His parents had taught him to be proud of himself, had given him the necessary assurance and that's what made him so dazzling. But he had gradually lost that aura and Woojin knew why.

"Woojinnie!" Chan's coming back to him. "Everything is good, we can stay here!"

"At what cost? We have to be able to cover the costs."

"I've talked about this with Mrs Yoon -the innkeeper, we can stay for as long as it takes and in exchange, I take care of the few repairs that the inn needs."

"Chan..." Woojin didn't want the blond to overwork himself. He deserved a vacation too...

"Don't worry about me. I will do the same thing as when we were at the Ursa Major; a little tinkering every day and plenty of free time to spend with the boys... and especially you."

Woojin blushed. Then he realized that he and Chan had never discussed their previous dispute. So more for playing than actually being angry, Woojin inflated his cheeks and turned around, his back in front of Chan.

"I'm still angry." he said slowly

"Nooo, Woojin! Please!" whined Chan, imprisoning him in his arms. "I don't like it when you're mad at me…"

"Well, I don't like it when you act like a moron." retorted the brown. His boyfriend kissed his neck and said:

"I'm sorry for what I said, especially the way I did it."

That is not what Woojin wanted to hear. He wanted Chan to tell him that he was not going to sacrifice himself for Jeongin, that he would do everything he could except going to jail.

"Hello..." someone said gently behind them. By reflex, Woojin pushed Chan away and turned to see who had surprised them. Jeongin.

There were twenty-one steps to this staircase, impossible that he had not noticed their proximity. He had had nineteen steps to realize how close they were. He had had nineteen steps to suspect them of being in a relationship. And when he looked at him, he was even sure of that.

Woojin began to panic. He got up and started to agitate.

"Jeongin... It's not -- it's not what you think!"

He glanced at Chan for him help dispel the younger man's assumptions, but Chan seemed amused. Why was he amused? There was nothing funny!

"Chan." Woojin wanted to rip off his smile. "What's going on here?"

"Uh... Well… In fact..."

Woojin sighed. He understood.

"He knows. Right? Chan!"

He couldn't believe it. Jeongin had found out for them and Chan had not considered it important enough to tell him! Yet he knew how terrified Woojin was at the thought of someone learning for them... His throat was tight and Jeongin's gaze on him made him increasingly uncomfortable. Chan was about to say something but the youngest stood between them, looking at Woojin with his big wet eyes.

"Sorry Woojin! Chan didn't tell me! I just... I saw you that's all. I didn't tell anyone, I promise!"

Woojin couldn't listen to Jeongin. He was talking to him, trying to reassure him, but he couldn't hear anything. He was scared. He was afraid of what would happen next. Because every time it ended badly and he didn't know if he could bear to see his last circle of acquaintances shattered.

"I'm going to... I need some fresh air, I'm going out."

He bypassed the two youngest and walked out of the inn.

"Woo'!" Chan grabbed his forearm, but he quickly freed himself, bringing his arm back against his chest. He confronted Chan, noticing Jeongin at the door of the inn who looked at him with as much sadness as his boyfriend at the same time.

He took a deep breath to calm down and forced himself to relax. He hated being so little in control of himself; He had to pick himself up.

"Chan, I'm just going to get some fresh air. I will be back. I just need to calm down."

"You... Everything's fine, okay? Everything's fine."

Chan looked so sure. Woojin could only believe him. And he knew Jeongin wouldn't say anything to anyone. But his heart was still beating so hard, so fast he was still so shocked... He needed a moment.

He put a hand on Chan's shoulder, the latter visibly relaxing, and then put a kiss on his cheek.

"I know, I know. I'll be back."

He took the key of Chan's car in his pocket and left.

*

Felix opened an eye. He stretched out his arm to grab his phone and checked the time. Eight o'clock in the morning. It was late... He turned his head. Changbin was still asleep, only his hair was protruding from the sheets. Felix got up, passing his hand through his red hair and put on his sweater, which was lying at the foot of the bed. He walked to the room shared by Minho and Jisung. Opening the door gently, he sneaked in. Only Jisung was there. Perfect.

"Jisungie." sang Felix as he climbed onto the bed. The other grumbled a little before turning around. Felix crept under the sheets, turned his friend on his other side and snuggled up to him. He was about to go back to sleep when Jisung began to speak, finally awake.

"Did you talk to Changbin?" he asked, and Felix grimaced.

"No…"

"It will be too late, at some point."

"Look who's talking. What about Minho?"

"It's different."

"Yeah, I totally believe you... You're annoying. Go to sleep."

Felix put his hand on Jisung's head and forced him to reinstall himself on his pillow despite his complaints. Felix loved Changbin and that's why he refused to declare himself. First of all, the brown was his best friend so if he came to reject him, he was afraid he wouldn't have the right to spend time with him, then Changbin would go to college next year and he'd leave Felix here; he did not know if he could bear it.

Felix had already seen college students. They looked so free, serious and mature, so self-confident and self-reliant... Felix was still crying in front of _Wall-E_ , Changbin would soon get tired of him.

The door opened. Felix didn't bother opening his eyes to see who was that. If Minho wanted to go back to bed, there was enough room for him in the bed. The mattress collapsed behind Felix and arms slumped around him before turning him around. Thinking that Minho was going to push him out of bed, the redhead opened his eyes, ready to fight.

"Why did you leave?" asked Changbin, his eyes barely opened.

"Changbin? I was sure Minho was about to kill me." laughs Felix with relief.

The brown continued to pout. "Come back to bed," he complained, softly shaking the redhead. Was he so tired for whining like that or was it just to coax Felix? "Come," he began, "Please...

"Okay, okay, okay. I'm getting up."

Felix freed himself from the brown's arms and pulled him towards their room, abandoning Jisung. Changbin was a big baby. Changbin loved cute things, colors and baby animals and although he denied it, he also liked to make _aegyos_ ; Changbin said he liked black, but his eyes were always attracted to Felix's brightly colored clothes. Everyone who thought Changbin was a punk was totally wrong about him. Once he had stepped on the tail of one of Minho's cats and cried of guilt while the animal, after shouting a good blow, showed no signs of suffering or even resentment. Felix wondered where Changbin would be now if he hadn't seen him look admiringly at a butterfly when they were little.

He crept under the sheets, Changbin did the same and not giving him time to settle down properly, he started to cuddle him to go back to sleep. However, he did not succeed.

"Binnie... What should I say to Innie? I would really like to ask him for forgiveness but I feel that saying "sorry for my behavior" is not enough…"

"Yeah, you really shocked him."

"Thank you for your help…"

"Sorry, sorry. Perhaps... Explain your point of view. Discuss a little and maybe you will understand each other's reasons. I doubt he can stay mad at you for long, anyway."

Changbin pulled out his arm from under the blanket and hugged Felix. He stroked his upper back to comfort him and even put a little kiss on his shoulder. He did not notice his friend's ears turning red.

"It's going to be okay for the both of you, I'm sure."

*

The door of Minho and Jisung's room opened again and Jisung, who was struggling to fall back asleep, swore that he would kill the person who had entered; surely Felix.

Like for the first time, the mattress collapsed and arms encircled his at the level of his waist. Jisung was going to put a blow to the individual to chase him but instead, he smelt that perfume that he could recognize between a thousand.

"You're sleeping?" asked the brown while rubbing the tip of his nose on Jisung's cheek.

"I was trying," replied the chestnut, huddling against the brown.

"You have to get up, Jisungie."

"No, no."

"You have to!"

"Nooooo."

Minho laughed in front of so much cuteness. Tenderized, he putted a multitude of kisses on the round and soft cheek of the youngest. Jisung struggled at first and then stopped, particularly appreciating the attention he received.

"Well, are you awake now?"

"Unfortunately, yes. And I'm hungry."

"Breakfast was at eight o'clock. It's eleven o'clock now, there's nothing left."

"I just have to die of hungriness, i guess." Jinsung was a bit dramatic; Minho loved it.

"What a drama queen. We'll stop at a gas station and you can choose what you want, okay?"

"Thank you, hyung." Jisung said with a little voice. He was already falling back asleep. The bed was nice and the presence of Minho was even more so.

 _"What about Minho?"_ Jisung felt his heart racing. He cursed at Felix. He didn't want to think about that now. He just wanted to have a good time with Minho, not worrying about his emotions for this one and the state of their relationship. He sadly left Minho's arms and turned to be back to him. He didn't want to cuddle anymore, he didn't like to feel like he was using Minho.

"Oh? Are you getting up?" asked the brown, unconscious of Jisung's thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm going to take a shower."

He saw in Minho's gaze that he knew something was wrong. He decided to ignore him.

*

Chan was sitting in the living room, Jeongin next to him. They were both silent, listening for the slightest noise of a vehicle parking in front of the hostel. Woojin had been gone for half an hour.

"Chan," Jeongin said softly, "do you think Woojin's going to be okay?"

"Don't worry. He knows what he's doing, he's fine. He was scared, that's for sure, but he knows everything is fine."

They went into silence for a moment and then Jeongin sighed.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why, I didn't think that I should have come down later."

"You had just woken up, Jeongin, it's not your fault. Would you please wake up the others? I have something to tell you."

Jeongin nodded and left (read: escaped from the situation). As soon as he took the stairs, Chan sighed. It was ten o'clock in the morning but he was already tired. He should have told Woojin about Jeongin, he knew he should have told him but he had not dared. He had not dared because he was afraid of his reaction... That reaction: running away. Woojin was not a coward, of course he came back every time. It's just that... Chan was always worried about the brown outside in an unstable condition. He wouldn't do anything stupid, he hadn't done anything stupid before but he was so vulnerable...

"Chan, that's enough." he scolded himself "Woojin is mature, Woojin is autonomous, he knows what he's doing. He's going to come back and everything will be better."

The front door opened and Woojin as if he had been summoned by Chan entered; key to the car in one hand and a plastic bag in the other. His eyes immediately landed on the blond, a more serene expression on his face. He smiled warmly and his boyfriend threw himself into his arms.

"I'm sorry," Chan said in the hollow of his neck. "I should have told you."

"That's true."

"It's just... I didn't want you to panic."

"I understand."

Chan wanted to cry. Woojin's hugs were so sweet, so warm and reassuring. Chan felt vulnerable as well but at the same time so good. What would happen to him if he could no longer find that bubble of comfort in his life? Probably not something he could be proud of.

"Are you crying?" asked Woojin, with fun in his voice

"No. But I really want to."

"So go ahead."

"I can't, the kids will soon come down."

"We'll see about that later, okay? You're entitled to a comfort session."

"You too!"

"You're right."

Woojin quickly looked around the room, no one. With delicacy, he guided Chan's head in front of his own and gently laid his lips on his own. It was only a short exchange but it was enough to relieve Chan; Woojin was fine, finally.

The blond finally noticed the plastic bag that Woojin was holding. He spread the plastic panels to see what it contained but at the same time, like at the Ursa Major, all the boys went down the stairs in an impressive hubbub.

The two older ones reluctantly separated, still remaining close, their shoulders brushing.

The innkeeper, alarmed by the hubbub made by the boys, joins them in the living room.

Woojin tried to calm everyone down, but he could only briefly attract their attention.

"Our aunt refused to let us come to her house!" he quickly shouts. It had the effect of calming the boys. They stared at him with concern. He could see some of them looking for a new idea and others trying to stay calm despite their deep dismay.

Chan chuckled beside him, amused by Woojin's cruelty. He tapped the shoulder of the latter, who laughed too. Was is that funny?

"We have nowhere to stay but... Thanks to the generosity of Mrs. Yoon - the innkeeper, we will stay here for a few more days!" announced Chan, applauding. The way in which everyone's face lit up with relief ended up make Woojin laugh with joy. All the boys thanked the innkeeper deeply, who blushed at so much attention.

"Do what you want but be wise, orderly and careful!" added Woojin in the hubbub, a mixture of thanks and joyful discussions. They all nodded but Woojin knew it was coming in one ear and it came out the other but hey... He didn't care.

The boys parted in small groups and the living room quickly emptied, each announcing what he was going to do.

"Well, that's done." whispered Chan. "What needs to be repaired, Mrs. Yoon?"

"Are you starting now?" You can do it later."

"I prefer doing it now and I will go and rest afterwards."

This seemed to please the woman who gave her a conquered smile.

"Okay. The bulbs in some rooms are sizzling, could you put new ones on? There's a box full of new light bulbs in the hallway closet, before the kitchen."

"Okay, I'll get started right now!"

Woojin decided to follow him. He was the type to avoid DIY, always left this kind of activity to the blond but after what had happened a little earlier, he wanted to stay with him.

They began their hunt for dead light bulbs in silence. Chan went up to the ladder to remove the old bulbs while Woojin picked new ones from the box and handed it to him. The few times they spoke, it was Woojin who asked to change the new bulb because he did not like the color of the light (he preferred the "hot white" to the "simple white" because it was too simillar to hospital's light). Then, as they had just changed the last light bulb, Chan spoke.

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything about Jeongin, he knows from the beginning. When he told me, I thought it was better not tell you. Jeongin's happy for us, you know? And he won't tell anyone." Woojin did not know what to say. He thought they were done with all this, but it seems Chan couldn't recover from lying to Woojin and creating this situation this morning.

"I'm also sorry for abandoning you. You're right to be upset, I was stupid on that one."

"Chanie, you didn't…"

"I mean, I too wouldn't be fine if you decided to go to jail, actually. That's right... I have my reasons and I promise you that one day I will tell you. But for now, I'm just asking you to trust me." Oh... It was deeper than what Woojin had thought.

"I trust you, I'm just afraid for you."

Chan put away the stepladder he had used and Woojin put the box in the closet. They went up the stairs and headed for their room. Ready to take a shower. Woojin went first then Chan. When he came out of the shower, Woojin was in the same place as the day before, the same book in his hands. The blond was about to leave the room when the brown stopped him.

"Where are you going? I promised you a cuddly session, if I remember well."

A great joy warmed Chan's whole body. He loved Woojin so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally forgot to translate that chapter and it would have stay like that if @crystaljeongin hadn't comment this morning ^^'
> 
> Hope you like it !
> 
> See you next time <3


	20. When You Love Someone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason, that chapter was incredibly difficult to translate. Sorry for being late. Good reading :)

It was four in the morning. And Chan was already awake. He hated it when it happened to him. It would mean only one thing: he was stressed. He didn't like being stressed.

He had tried going back to sleep, in vain. After a quarter of hour, he decided to get up.

He went down the stairs as slowly as possible to wake up no one. He wanted to settle down on one of the couch of the living room and read a little (Woojin's book looked pretty interesting) but there was a light coming from the end of the corridor and he wanted to know what it was.

A sweet smell creeped up his nose and soon, he started to drool a little. He hadn't smell something this good since the last time his mother had cooked for him. He pushed the door open. It was the kitchen. The innkeeper was there, behind a saucepan in which, by the smell, she was preparing a hot chocolate and a pan in which pancakes were cooked.

Because he didn't want to scare her, Chan knock on the door. The woman turned around, surprised, then made a sweet smile almost commercial. 

"Already up?”  
“Unfortunately. Can I help you?”

"Yes. Of course.”

Chan washed his hands in the sink and began to take care of making the pancakes. They remained silent for a moment, each taking care of his kitchen, then they sat down at the solid wooden table of the kitchen and only then began to discuss. 

"But tell me..." began Mrs. Yoon "How come you protect the little one so ardently? I understand that he is your friend but... What's your story? 

Ha... I don't know if you want to know all this. Jeongin is... It's my last chance, that's all." 

She nodded as if she understood perfectly. She did not try to insist. She saw that Chan was no longer with her, immersed in his memories.

*   
  
"Hello Chanie!" the little boy opened his arms in his mother's direction. She hugged him without doubt, giving him his morning hug. "Happy birthday, Darling." She added while kissing his forehead. "Alright, get up. We don't want you to be late for school."

Chan slipped from his bed, awkwardly passing his children's hands in his hair to clear his face. He went as fast as his legs allowed him to the kitchen. His father was already in front of the stove. This one turned when the little boy wanted to pull the chair from the dining table. 

"Hey, Christopher." he says laying a kiss on his son's hair "What do you want for breakfast?” 

“Cereals?" replied the boy, a little confused. It was always cereal, why did his father ask? 

"Are you sure? You don’t want some cake? " 

His father released a chocolate cake in a box and put it in front in the refrigerator. He then pulled a candle out of his jeans pocket, planted it in the glaze and lit it quickly.   
His mother joined them in the kitchen, his sister in his arms and they began to sing to him "Happy Birthday". Chan blew the candle in the shape of six and his father served them all.

A quarter of an hour later, he was driving with his mother. She was taken to the district's elementary school. Chan knew the way by heart; you had to turn right and then left and finally twice right and we were there. 

As usual, his mother dropped him off in front of the entrance where his teacher welcomed the students. Today, however, she had exchanged her attendance book with a child. He looked shy, only his hand in the woman's was preventing him from hiding behind her, he was puny, long brown hair, big green wet eyes, his binder hanging behind his back softly, probably empty.

"Hello Christopher!" said the professor. He made a big smile and then walked to his classroom, throwing a last look at the boy who was watching him too. 

When the bell indicating that the lesson was about to begin sounded, the teacher made them rank and then come into the room. As the year was already well advanced, everyone had their own place. Chan's neighbor was a big and noisy guy and behind him there were two girls who talked all the time and were being scolded at every time; in front of him was the chalkboard because he was in the front row.

His teacher still holding the boy by the hand, observed a moment the room then approached Chan. She put her free hand on Chan's table, in front of his classmate.

"All those sitting on this column are shifting from a place to the back."

It took ten minutes for everyone to perform and once that was done, Chan found himself without a neighbour. He wondered for a moment if he had done something wrong and that is why his teacher isolate him and then he understood that it was for the new boy. He put his bag (well and empty) on the table.

"Good. Children, this is Charly. He's a bit fragile so be nice and make him a good welcome." says the woman when she goes to her office. Charly sit down beside Chan and pulled out a small notebook and pencil out of his uniform's pocket.

Chan felt shy and so did not say anything to the new boy before recess.  
  
As soon as it rang, he turned to his neighbor.

"Hi, I'm Christopher." 

Charly made him a little smile, keeping his notebook against his chest. Chan tried to make the conversation. 

"Where were you before?”

“In kindergarten.”

“Since the beginning of the year?" wondered Chan, how could Charly have entered primary school in the middle of the year?

"No... I was at the hospital.”  
“Oh... why? “

“My daddy says it's a secret.”

“All right, okay. You want to play ball?" asked Chan by taking out his precious ball bag.

The chestnut nodd and they came out of the room to play in the concrete courtyard. They did not notice the apprehensive look of the teacher who followed them with her eyes as she spoke with the director. This one put a pile of blank notebooks and books on the woman's desk and then left.   
When the recess ended, she gave it to Charly, who put one part in his bag and the other part in his locker at the back of the room.   
  
* 

Today was Chan's birthday. He sat on the porch of his house, observing the balloons they had hung at the Bang's letter box slowly moving to the rhythm of the light breeze. There were already a lot of people inside, despite the closed door, he could hear the laughs and shouts of the other children, the amused discussions of the parents and the tweets of his little brother.  
  
He also wanted to have fun, but he couldn't do it without his best friend.

"Charly!" he said when this one appeared at the end of the street. Chan gave him a hug despite the sweat flowing on his friend's forehead and back.

"Happy Birthday, Chris," he said, tending a small package to the brown. To form, Chan guessed that it was his third pinecone. He tore the white paper which was used as packing and bingo; it was indeed a pinecone.   
"Thank you, it’s super pretty." he answered, smiling to Charly, who made a grimace.

"Next time, I'm going to make you a real gift, Chris. It's a promise!”

“If you stop offering me pinecones, how am I going to enlarge my collection? I love pinecones, it's cool."

Charly trod his grimace for a real smile and Chan pulled him to his house.

"Mommy!" he shouted to get his mother's attention. He proudly waved the pinecone and then went up the stairs leading to his room with Charly. His mother smiled at them, but the rest of the guests appeared more confused than anything else, not understanding Chan's excitement for a pinecone.   
Chan put the pinecone in a shoe box, two other pinecones and candles, six, seven and eight being already present. He closed the box and turned to Charly.

"Do you want to play?”

“Yeah!”  
  
Chan wanted to leave the room to join the others outside but decided to stay with his best friend in his room. The others were not nice with Charly and Chan wanted him to spend as a good day as he did.

He opened the last drawer of his dresser and pulled out a metal box with a camouflage pattern. He opened it and poured down to the ground a lot of small green soldiers.   
They played until Mrs. Bang called them to blow the candles. Chan eventually gave Charly a soldier and he left quietly in the night to go home.   
  
*

When Chan first saw Charly's parents, he was afraid for his life. He had failed to reach Charly from all the great holidays until the last two weeks; he had found the phone number of his house, had called and begged Charly's mother to let him come to the pool with Chan one weekend.

When they arrived, Chan had felt all the hair on his back bristle. They were all smiling, but Chan's brain was screaming at him in danger. Still polite, he approached the trio and gave them a little smile. He greeted them, thanked them for taking Charly and reminded them that his parents would bring him back as agreed.

Charly's father placed a hand on Charly's shoulder, who startled violently, a kind of fear flashing on his face before he began to smile again.

"Don't come home late," said Charly’s father one last time, Charly nodded, sensing in his voice that the threat was greater than a simple conventional punishment.

Chan grabbed Charly's hand and pulled him into the walls of the municipal pool, not feeling comfortable in front of the parents.

At only ten years old, Chan was told to be a mature child and his popularity grew exponentially. However, he always preferred to spend time with his best friend Charly. The two had grown since their meeting but just as for their popularity, it was done in a different way. Chan was beginning to look more muscular (reasonably for his age), his hair was a little longer and wild; Charly was still as skinny though taller than Chan now and his long brown hair had suddenly given way to a shaved skull and from time to time, when Charly came to spend the night at the Bang's, Chan had seen cuts closed and bruised as he had started doing Thai box.  
  
His swim shorts seemed a little big to him and Chan wondered if it was even his. He was confused. The lack of school material, the pinecones, Charly's old and stained clothes... He had always believed that his best friend came from a poor family and yet his parents had nice car and beautiful clothes... Why were they so different from each other? 

"Christopher!" shouted Charly to get the brown's attention, "Come!" he said with a smile as he jumped into the pool. 

Chan left his thoughts aside. He was glad to see his friend so happy.  
*

Chan smiles at Charly. He did the same.

He was happy to see his friend again after almost three months of absence.

"Dude, I thought I was going to start year six without you. Where did you go?" he asked. And it was a silly question because Chan knew fully well that it was probably his parents' fault that he had missed two months of classes and disappeared during the holidays.

Charly shrugged, keeping his smile in place.

"I was sick. Something super serious and contagious!" It was a lie.

Chan looked down at Charly's arm. It seemed fine, but the boy kept him close to his body and moved him very little. Looking at him a little more carefully, he noticed that part of the skin was clearer at the wrist, as if he had been stitched up there. He had seen a similar trace on his cousin's elbow when he broke his arm while jumping from stairs to play. Did Charly also break his arm?

"Earth to the Moon. Chris?”

"Yeah?”

"It rang."

Charly pulled up his bag over his shoulder, the little plastic soldier clinging to his bag by a string bouncing in all directions. He removed the hems he had made on the handle of his uniform, hiding his arm up to his hand. He beckoned Chan to follow him, and Chan silently did.

He could not concentrate in class, too preoccupied about what he had seen this morning. Chan knew what was going on at Charly's, he had seen the bruises and cuts, he had seen him startled when his father put his hand on his shoulder, he saw him every day become more and more pale as the time came home approaching... It didn't take him long to understand the situation. He knew for two years now what Charly was going through at home. However, he had never told him... And Chan didn't know if he should talk about it or wait for his friend to do the first step. He had read on the internet that the last option was the best but he still felt the urge to do something.

Too immersed in his thoughts, he did not hear the bell indicating the lunchtime sound.   
Charly placed a hand on his shoulder, the other playing distractedly with the little soldier.

"Chris? You all right? You've been in your thoughts since this morning...”

"Yeah, don't worry." he tried to put an arm on his friend's shoulders but this one was way too tall so the opposite was done.

People usually didn't like it when the taller ones put their arms on their shoulders, but Chan liked it. Unlike Chan, Charly wasn't particularly tactile so that was the closest thing to a hug for him. As a result, the brown made the most of it.

"You know what we eat today in the canteen?" he asked, turning towards the dining hall. Charly grimaced.

"My parents forgot to pay for the canteen...”  
  
"Again? We're going to share my tray then. Don’t insist, we do it like this!"

Charly's parents were clearly not the best.

The end-of-class bell rings. The two boys left the school, as always next to each other, their shoulders meeting gently. They were discussing the next superhero movie that would soon be released in the cinema.

"Hey Chris..." suddenly said Charly, clearly uncomfortable. His arm passed behind his back and Chan knew he was playing with his little soldier; he had done it a lot today. The chestnut glanced at the brown and then shook his head with a sigh. "Nothing. It’s nothing. Just... Thank you so much."

Without Chan being able to do or say anything, Charly gave him a hug and then walked home.  
  
The brown could have stayed there for a long time, watching with surprise the direction his best friend had taken, but his mother honked right next to him and asked him to hurry.

Chan was sitting at his desk. It's been a long time since he finished his math exercises, but his eyes didn't leave his notebook. He was totally focused on something else.

Charly was a concern for him recently. He had always been puny but now he seemed very tired and all his absences... Chan knew what was going on between Charly's parents and Charly, but he did not dare intervene. In all honesty, he was scared. He was afraid for Charly, for his future, but he was also afraid for himself. He did not know how to help his friend and he was afraid that if he intervened, he would do more harm than good.

He laid his eyes on the little green soldier attached to his backpack life Charly's one; they both came from Chan's toy box; they had agreed that this would be their secret best-friends item. But aren't best friends supposed to protect each other’s back? Wasn't Chan supposed to look after Charly? Of course, I do; this little soldier was proof of that.

In that case, he couldn't leave Charly in this hell! He had to help him!

"I'm going out!" he shouted into the house before passing the front door and getting his bike.   
He drove fast. He passed the park where they had met, the glacier where they had eaten their celebratory ice creams, the pool where they had had their only outing on vacation, the primary school where they had met and the middle-school where they had spent their last moment together.   
He turned one last time to reach the street where Charly lived. He was going to accelerate when he was forced to slow down. His rear wheel rose a good meter from the ground, but he managed not to fall.

He did not care, moreover, what was before him, froze his blood.

An ambulance and two police cars stood outside Charly's house, all his neighbors were outside, watching the scene with dread.

Chan abandoned his bike and ran to the building. He fought for a moment to pass the crowd and was forced by a policeman to stop.

"Charly!" he yelled, hoping to see his friend come out. An object was heard breaking and the door opened.

His best-friend's mother appeared, hold firmly by a policeman. His father, meanwhile, was being dragged outside by a police officer. He swore, struggled, but didn't let go of the catch he had on Charly's bag. Chan watched the object being swung in all directions, escaping from the man's hand and crashing a few yards in front of him.   
He did not think twice about it and ran to retrieve the bag. Charly would be disappointed to see it being left on the ground like that.   
He passed his hand over the black cloth to dust it off but soon realized that something was sticking and when he turned the palm of his hand up, he realized that it was full of blood... like the little green soldier who hung at the zipper.

He dropped the bag and looked up at the house. His stomach turned and he suppressed a violent urge to vomit.

"Hey! Little one, get out of there!" a policeman shouted. A woman he didn't know received him before he fell on his buttocks.

Another policeman came out of the house and shook slowly, like a rusty pendulum, his head from right to left; his dark face stirred something in Chan who, though he denied it, knew what it was.

The missing police officer and two paramedics pull out a stretcher covered with a white sheet.

*

5 years later

Woojin loved Saturday morning. He loved Saturday mornings because his mother was to his book club, his little brother at his English class and then at the library, and his father was golfing with his colleagues. Woojin loved Saturday morning because he was alone at home. He liked Saturday morning because Chan came to visit him.

He slept soundly; his face hidden in the hollow of Woojin's neck as they lay on his bed. The brown wanted to stroke his head, but Chan suddenly jumped. He stood up, his eyes wide open and his breath short.

"Chanie?" Woojin put a hand on his shoulder, worried. Chan turned to him and instantly his frightened expression gave way to another more relieved. He snuggles up to his boyfriend, hugging him to seek solace but also to prevent him from leaving.

"Sing for me," he murmured, his voice full of emotion.

"Which one?" Woojin began to rock him.

"Ours."

Chan had discovered a passion for music and although he sang wonderfully, he loved Woojin's voice. So once he had learned the basics of musical creation, he and his boyfriend had spent two months working on their first song. The instrumental was not terrible and Woojin's voice was sometimes stifled by it but they were proud of it. It didn't have a title yet, they just called it "the song". Their song.

Woojin put aside his concern, knowing that Chan would tell him about what had woken him up later (he never did, but Woojin didn't know it yet) and smiled softly before he started singing.

Even though Chan had just woken up, he hadn't slept much in the last few days so Woojin decided to help him go back to sleep.

Eventually Chan returned to the world of dreams and Woojin returned to scrolling on Instagram in silence. After a while, he thought he could spend his time watching videos about song production. He opened YouTube and chose the first video he was offered on the subject. He grabbed his headphones from his bedside table so as not to disturb Chan's sleep.

He did not see time pass; the sun rising high in the sky and did not hear his parents come home either...

Chan did, but the front door that opened and closed loudly only made him moved in his sleep. Woojin pressed him against him, still oblivious to the commotion on the ground floor.

Nor did he hear his mother calling him several times, his father grumbling that he had to carry the groceries alone to the kitchen, and Seungmin quickly climbed the stairs and locked himself in his room to play video games with Hyunjin. His mother called him a few more times and then decided to pick him up directly.

Chan opened an eye because of the concussion. It took him several seconds to realize that the rest of the Kims had returned.

He wanted to get up, but it was too late. Mrs. Kim was at the entrance of Woojin's room, one hand resting on the doorknob and the other on her mouth, shocked by the scene.  
His son was on his bed, another boy huddled against him; a position far too affectionate for it to be merely friendly.

Woojin realized that Chan was awake again and, as for the first time, was frightened; he had not yet seen his mother.

"Chanie..." he said, pushing the blond's hair backwards. "Another nightmare?”

“Woojin?"   
He startled. It was his mother's voice. He turned around.

His mother was livid. Her eyes passed furiously from Woojin to Chan and from Chan to Woojin. She understood but could not accept the obvious.

Woojin parted ways with Chan, as if it were going to make a difference. But it was too late. His mother knew.

"Oh my God! Woojin!" shouted his father before appearing behind his wife. "What are you... What's going on here?"

He frowned watching Woojin and Chan on the same bed, and although they were far from each other, he concluded by Chan's messy hair and his son's red face that something had happened between them. His expression became cold. Woojin thought he was going to die under his gaze.

"Bang Chan, you should go home.”

"Mr. Kim...”

“No. Out."

Woojin followed Chan's gaze until he left his room. He had a headache, his heart was beating in his ears, his whole body was shaking, a cold sweat had formed on his neck... the world was turning around him.

His father looked at him with disappointment, but Woojin could not see anything, his eyes full of tears. The man closed the bedroom door. Woojin was left alone.

He cried. He cried so much that he fell asleep from fatigue.

When he woke up, it was already dark outside. His mother stood again in the door frame. She was like a shadow because of the strong light of the corridor; a large and disturbing shadow that brought nothing good.

"Your father and I are waiting for you in the kitchen," she says softly before leaving.

Woojin sat at the edge of his bed. His head was spinning. He took the bottle of water on the ground and took a few sips before getting up. He gathered all his courage and disregarding his trembling body, walked slowly towards the kitchen.

There, his parents were seated on the same side of the table. One of the four chairs had been discarded so that only one remained in front of the adults; he took his place there.

He dared not look at them, his eyes remained fixed on the table, detailing each stripe in the wood.

"Woojin, we're not going to go through four paths." began his father. He shook his hands resting on his lap.

He didn't want to have that discussion. He didn't want to hear what he was going to say. He didn't want this situation!

"What you're doing with the Bang son is wrong. You must stop, you hear me? This is not normal.”

"But..." Woojin swallowed "I love him."

It had the effect of a bomb. His father banged the table and his mother choked. Mr. Kim turned to his wife.

"I told you to keep this depraved punk away from our son!" he said, his teeth clenched "We should never have put them in the same school! We should have asked for a restriction order against him too! This depraved boy rots him!"

Mrs. Kim grabbed her husband's hand and made him calm down. She then turned to her son and he had a short hope that she would side with him, after all, she had always done so.

"Woojinie, my darling... It's not too late, okay? Stop what you're doing with that boy, okay?”

"But Mommy...”

"If you leave him, we'll let you make music in college."

Was it... Was it an ultimatum? Did she ask him to choose between Chan and music?

"I want to make music... with him, Mom.”  
“No. Until you erase it from your life, we refuse to fund your education," said his father. Strangely, the man was calmer. Like a mirror, he was crying like his son. Only her mother did not cry (albeit only by a few). She sighed.

"Do whatever you want Woojinie but know that never will we approve of your relationship and my ultimatum still stands. I'll also ask you to leave the house while you think about it."

She got up, put away her chair and went silently towards her own room. His father gave him one last sad look before getting up in his turn.

Woojin returned to his room like an automat. There he found an empty suitcase, open. He knew what he had to do with it, so he did.

He wandered down the street for half an hour, dragging his suitcase like a prisoner does with his chains. He wandered and cried until Chan found him while he was taking a walk to release all the stress he had accumulated.

He spent a weekend with the Bangs, then a week, one, two, three months, and finally, moved out with Chan in a small apartment downtown after graduation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's me again ! I started to translate an other story, Moonlight Melody, I hope you'll like too.
> 
> See you next time <3


	21. 너란 바람 따라 (Flower)

Minho gently opened the door of the room he shared with Jisung and sneaked inside. The day was already well advanced, so the room was well lit, yet the chestnut did not seem bothered by it. The brown went up to the bed and stroked the youngest's hair.

"Hey, Jisung?”

“Hm?”

"Do you want to come with me to the forest?"

Jisung opened an eye and cleared his face from his duvet.

"Why doesn't anyone want to let me sleep?" he whined, wriggling in bed. Minho merely smiled and stood up.

"Come on, we said we'd take pictures for Insta' during the holidays! We still haven't taken one.”

"Uh, yes," said the chestnut, laying down "The selfie in front of your house, the one in the car and yet another one in front of the beach.”

“That's not enough! Come on! Mrs. Yoon told me that there are beautiful corners behind the hostel. We have to go and see that and take advantage of it.”

“Okay, okay!"

Jisung got up and went to lock himself in the bathroom.

"I'm waiting for you downstairs!"

Minho retrieved his backpack and went to sit in the living room to check that he had everything. His camera was neatly tidy and the little gift he had bought for Jisung before the holidays too. It was a ring that he could add to his jewelry collection; it was silvery, and a shiny black line split it in half, it was simple but pretty.

Minho passed over a broken tree branch and looked up at the forest, which continued to stretch before him. Jisung entered his field of vision and nodded.

"Here it's good," he says, pulling out his phone.

Jisung took a turn on himself as a pout grew on his face.

"Are you sure, hyung? There's not a lot of light...”

“It's perfect. Get in there. We're going to take some solo photos and then we'll take selfies. Is there a rap you want to record here? That could be cool.”

“Yeah, I have one in mind. But not today! I don't know him well enough yet."

They took several pictures, taking advantage of the plants around them, the accumulation of moss and broken branches to give a more dramatic effect to their photos. After a quarter of an hour, they decided to take a break to see what it looked like.

They first reviewed Jisung's photos and then Minho's. They were satisfied with their production. Jisung tried to rap but he wasn't happy with what it sounded like so he decided to postpone his project.

He was cool. Minho loved hearing Jisung rap. He sang well too, but there was a fire in his eyes when he raped that would burn Minho's heart and cheeks. He would never be tired of it.

"Good... Now selfie." he murmured, still shaken by Jisung's rap.

He looked for a slightly brighter place and put his face and Jisung's face under rays of sun brave enough to reach the ground, he raised the camera high and Jisung made a sign of victory.

"Hyung, this guy is beautiful." said Jisung, looking at the photo, Minho's heart missed a beat. "Oh, and you’re there too!" laughed Jisung.

Minho tried to pinch him but Jisung fled. Then began a chase.

Minho finally grabbed Jisung and lifted him up, snatching an amused cry from him. He put him down breathlessly and lowered his head so that Jisung could pass the cord of his camera around his neck.

The younger’s nose was a little reddened by the morning cold and his cheeks more swollen than usual since he was barely awake. He was lovely. Faced with so much tenderness, Minho's heart swelled with happiness and he decided it was the perfect moment to confess.

"I um..." He made a little embarrassed laugh, took a deep breath and resumed. "I love you Sungi."

And as if this revelation concerned the whole world, the forest fell silent. Or at least, that's what Minho believed because all he could hear was the erratic beats of his heart and all he could see was Jisung's beautiful eyes rendered hazel by the rays of the sun that passed through the foliage and landed pile on his face -- like a being blessed by the heavens, like an angel.

His face began to blush, and Minho made a small tender smile. Then the youngest looked down and entered his head between his shoulders like a little pained thing.

"Hyung, I really like you a lot but..." his voice broke, he closed his eyes, "Wouldn't it be weird if we date each other?"

Minho remained silent. Jisung opened his eyes and took all his courage before raising them to the brown. He seemed surprised and although his face was frozen, his devastated gaze spoke for itself. Jisung's heart became painful and his lungs contracted violently, he felt an unpleasant heat extending on his back and another stinging his eyes.

"Hyung... Minho?"

The older slowly lowered his hands towards his camera and switched it on, then turned just as slowly and began taking some pictures of the trees, moss and the few small snails.

"Hyung?" Jisung worried, as he tried to put his hand on Minho's shoulder, but Minho dodged him.

"Sorry Jisung." he says simply before heading silently towards the inn.

Minho was incredibly eager to cry. He felt so stupid. All this time he thought that Jisung loved him, all this time he thought he was blushing and scoffing when they were close because he liked him... it was actually totally the opposite: he was bothering Jisung. He made his best friend uncomfortable. He had been so blinded by his own feelings that he had not noticed anything.

 _What an idiot_ , he thought bitterly as he entered the inn, _what a fucking moron_.

"Hey, Minho!”

“Not now, Felix."

He took off his shoes, passed the redhead and went up the stairs. He walked, his eyes still on his camera towards the room he shared with Jisung then stopped in front of it.

He couldn't go inside. He could not afford, after harassing Jisung as he had done, staying close to him. He didn't deserve it.

He forced his gaze to leave the gilded numbers screwed on the door to look at the others. He was not going to go to Woojin and Chan's room or to Seungmin, Hyunjin and Jeongin's room, he would certainly disturb them; Changbin and Felix, maybe a little less.

He knocked on the door and opened it.

Changbin was there. Sitting on the bed, he was watching a video on his phone. He stared at Minho as soon as he passed the door.

"Hi, are you okay?"

Minho thought for a moment about lying, but this question caused his last barriers to collapse and tears flowed down his cheeks against his will. He dropped his camera, which was due to not meet the ground with the cord still connected to it, which passed around the neck of the brown.

Changbin put down his phone, got up quickly from the bed and made the elder enter the room entirely before closing the door. He rubbed his arm in comfort and then directed him to the bed where he made him sit. He freed his face from the few strands that clung to his long lashes.

"What's wrong, Minho?" he asked urgently. By reflex, he began to look for any wound on the young man, but he found nothing. And realizing that Minho could not tell him anything for a while, Changbin made the decision to be only there for him for now. So, he sat down next to him and put an arm over his shoulders to give him a side hug. Minho's tears redoubled and he turned to hide his face in Changbin's neck.

He had always thought that people would exaggerate when they told how hard it was to be heartbroken but now, he knew it was true. What he didn't know was how to survive with a gaping hole instead of the heart.

*

Seungmin was lying on the bed he shared with Hyunjin and Jeongin. He was on his phone watching videos on YouTube. He was deeply bored. If it had not been for the internet, he would undoubtedly have hanged himself. He could have have fun with Hyunjin and Jeongin, who were sitting on the floor in front of the bed with a deck of cards, if he had not decided not to talk to them again. It may have been immature, but he didn't care. It's not as if the other two were going to notice his silence... Or just notice him simply.

"No!” whined Jeongin while giving his best cards to Hyunjin who was laughing.

Seungmin looked up at the ceiling, staying with these two was torture.

"Hey, can you speak less loudly?" he said, controlling the tone of his voice to appear less annoyed than he was.

The other two turned to him, their previous smiles disappearing almost instantly.

"Sorry, Minnie." said Jeongin sadly.

Seungmin felt guilty and it annoyed him a little more. Especially when he crossed the disapproving gaze of Hyunjin who, now standing, had placed a comforting hand on Jeongin's shoulder. So he looked at him menacingly.

“What?"

He did not expect Hyunjin to respond.

"You're boring, Seungmin. I don't know what's been happening to you for a few days, but you're in a bad mood all the time and you're undermining our spirits." How dare he? If anyone had zero morale, it was Seungmin. Not those two happy fools who displayed their great friendship in front of him constantly. "You don't want to talk about it? Too bad for you. But stop bitching around."

It was clearly a threat.

"What are you gonna do then?" he said, "Crying to the point of drowning me in your tears?”

“I wasn't thinking about punching you on the face.”

“Pff, as if you were capable of it."

Hyunjin was now dangerously close to Seungmin who was still lying.

Jeongin watched them with concern. Of course, the two had already quarreled but threatened each other? Never.

"Guys... Calm down, okay?"

He wanted to put his hand on Seungmin's arm, but Seungmin suddenly rejected him. And for a moment he thought he was going to get hit, so he curled up on the floor with his head in his knees.

"You're such a bastard." Hyunjin stooped to sit by Jeongin and reassured him.

Seungmin felt even worse. Because he no longer had best friends and he wasn't even sure he was still important for his brother; especially that scaring Jeongin and getting Hyunjin out of his calm attitude were things he didn't think he would ever do in his life.

So he slipped out of bed and walked to the bedroom door.

"You really have a problem," Hyunjin added, and Seungmin turned around, all his guilt giving way to the monster his anger had become.

"Yeah, I have a problem, Hyunjin! I am constantly set apart, my pseudo best friends never invite me to their plans and my brother-" he laughed without joy, full of disgust and bitterness "my fucking brother fucks his best friend and hides it from me!"

Jeongin gasped.

"You know?" he said, pale.

"Of course I know!" he yelled before realizing, "Wait, did you know about them?"

The youngest nodded softly.

Seungmin saw red.

He left the room, slamming the door.

His brother didn't tell him anything, but to Jeongin, a kid he met two weeks ago, he said it all? How was that possible? Was there something wrong with Seungmin to the point that Woojin refused to confide in him anything? Didn't he deserve the trust of his own brother? Did he trust him at least a minimum?

He crossed the entire distance between his room and Chan and Woojin’s. He opened the door.

*

_A little earlier_

Chan let a sigh of happiness pass his lips and he slipped under the sheets of the bed he shared with Woojin (Jeongin having fortunately migrated to Hyunjin and Seungmin's room). Woojin opened his arms and the blond snuggled up against his warm torso. It was past fifteen o'clock but they didn't care. They had spent the morning securing the steps of the stairs and had all this time they only thought about taking a shower and resting. The other boys were all busy somewhere, they had all the time in the world for them.

Woojin put a finger on Chan's temple and pushed the few hairs that fell over the area.

"Did I ever tell you that I love your little freckles?"

Chan blushed with happiness.

"Yes," he said, smiling softly, "Often.”

“I may tell you over and over again, it will never be enough. Same for the "I love you." I love you Chan.”

"I love you too."

Woojin kissed his forehead and rolled on his back. Chan found himself halfway upon him, his head strangely resting on his neck and shoulder. He arranged to have his head on his torso and found a more pleasant position, Woojin's arms still around him. A pleasant silence set in and Chan began to doze off.

"Hey, Chanie.”

“Hm?”

“Remember our discussion at the Ursa Major?"

Chan felt his heart tighten violently and found only remedy to tighten a little more Woojin in his embrace. Was he going to tell him he was leaving him? Chan could only blame himself, anyway, but that didn't mean he was going to survive the ordeal.

"Yes," he replied, whispering.

"You talked about my dream... It's changed, you know. I mean... Is it really a dream if you're not with me? I don't think so. That's why I can't go back to my parents. Because it would mean that I don't see you anymore and it's not possible, I love you too much for that."

Chan raised his hand to his face to wipe his wet eyes. A damp laugh crossed his lips. Woojin stood up, made his boyfriend do the same.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Chan shrugged and wiped his eyes in vain, he couldn't stop crying.

"It's just... It was so hard to ask you that. And... I'm so relieved."

Woojin took him in his arms and began to cradle him to calm his tears. Chan clung to him as if his life dependent of him. After about ten minutes, the blond had regained his composure.

They laid down again and Chan cuddle to Woojin.

The brown fell asleep very quickly, but this was not the case of the blond.

Woojin had insinuated that his dream was always to make music, but that Chan had to be there so no matter what he did, he would only have fifty percent of his dream and it bothered his boyfriend. Because in the end, it was his fault if Woojin can't be happy.

"Chan..." He startled. Ah, Woojin was not that much asleep at the end. "Stop thinking. I don't want to go to college, period.”

“But..."

The door to the room opened violently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seungmin : I'll let Woojin told me for him and Chan, it's okay.  
> Also Seungmin : I'm gonna break his neck😡 
> 
> Seungmin finally let his anger out, who knows what's going to happen?
> 
> Jisung didn't react like Minho thought he would, are you surprised?
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter. See you next time <333


End file.
